APC Boycotts Local Government Election In Sokoto

The All Progressive Congress (APC), in Sokoto State, has announced that it will not participate in the forthcoming local government elections in the state.

The Chairman of the party in the state, Honourable Isa Sadiq Acida, said this while addressing a press conference at the party secretariat in the state on Sunday.

The Chairman said the party took the position having lost confidence in the whole process leading to the election by the Sokoto State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC).

The party said that composition of the SIEC members does not follow due process alleging that some of the members were card-carrying members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), while others are cohorts of the leadership of the government in the state.

“Recent happenings in the preparations for the forthcoming local government polls in the state have glaringly confirmed our position.

“When the state government announced the belated decision to conduct the local government elections in the state. We expect the electoral body to arrange consultative meetings with political parties for the successful conduct of the elections.

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“To our dismay, however, the commission went alone and prepared their own time table, convenient to them and their paymasters, which was sent to us only for information.

“One would have expected that a just Umpire like SIEC should have invited political parties for their inputs before coming up with an election time table. This is a further indication o their lack of fairness and unwillingness to provide a level playing ground for political parties.

“In the light of these circumstances and after due consultations with all stakeholders of our party in the state, the Sokoto State chapter of the party has resolved not to participate in the forthcoming local government elections.”

The party also described the local government system in the state as a total failure. “We are all witnesses to the dismal performances of the local governments in the state and the bastardization of the local government system.

“Indeed, it is sad to note that, apart from deliberately starving the local governments of funds that legally belong to them, the present administration in Sokoto State will go down in history as one that was instrumental to reducing the tenure of elected local government councils, from three to five years for no other reason than to serve the personal convenience of its leadership,” he added.