PDP candidate alleges massive vote-buying in Gombe governorship election, APC, NNPP hail process

Mixed reactions trailed the conduct of Saturday’s governorship and house of assembly elections in Gombe State with political parties giving varied opinions on the exercise.

The elections were peaceful in most of the polling units with voters turning out in large numbers to exercise their civic right.

But in a chat with journalists after casting his vote at Usman Memorial polling unit in Anguwan Dawaki, Gombe, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Mohammad Jibrin Barde, accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of vote-buying.

He said the exercise was marred by massive vote-buying and intimidation of voters across the state.

Barde said: “I have the confidence of winning but we are not unaware of the massive vote-buying by the APC government across the state. We’re also aware of the plans to intimidate voters and cause mayhem.

“We’re watching very carefully and will report all those incidents to the law enforcement agencies such as the EFCC and ICPC.”

READ ALSO:Gombe PDP demands arrest of APC coordinator over threat of violence

On their part, Governor Inuwa Yahaya of the APC and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) candidate, Ahmed Khamisu Mailantarki, commended the electorates for the turn-out and peaceful conduct at the elections.

The governor and his wife, Amina Yahaya, voted at his polling unit at Yahaya Umaru 010 in Government Science Secondary School, Gombe.

He said the exercise was encouraging with reports from various parts of the state indicating a peaceful atmosphere and the readiness of voters to choose their leaders.

Mailantarki, who expressed confidence in his chances of winning the election, commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the improvement recorded in the election process.

He urged the people of Gombe to remain peaceful and avoid politics of bitterness.

“Gombe is more than PDP, APC, NNPP, or any other party,” he stated.

By Yemi Kanji

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now