The Deputy Governorship Candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) in Kano State, Mustapha Kwankwaso, on Friday, led hundreds of Kwankwasiyya Movement supporters in protest against the omission of its governorship candidate, Aminu Abdussalam Gwarzo, from the list released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The protesters marched to the INEC office in Kano and submitted a petition demanding the reinstatement of their candidate ahead of the 2027 polls, NEWSNGR reports.
Kwankwaso described the omission as unjust, arguing that the NDC candidate met all rules and regulations INEC set for nomination.
Addressing the protesters, the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Kano, Abdu Zango, said the commission has noted the reason for the omission and that the window for appeal remains open until October 24th.
“Basically, what they came to do is to present a complaint about the omission of their candidates. Luckily, INEC has made the point very clear: the reason for the omission and the fact that there is a window of appeal that has been provided up to the 24th of October.
“We received all the complaints and assured the delegation that their petition will receive the necessary attention,ntion and we are going to forward it to our national headquarters for consideration. As far as we are concerned in Kano here, we are very neutral,” Zango said.
He also commended the group for adopting a peaceful and orderly approach in presenting their grievance rather than resorting to violence.
The INEC official used the opportunity to encourage citizens who have registered to collect their Permanent Voter Card (PVC).
In a separate interview, the spokesperson of the Kwankwasiyya Movement, Dr Habib Mohammed, said the petition goes beyond the omission of their candidate to include allegations of forgery and collusion by an INEC staff member.
“Another reason is a petition against a staff member here, whom we believe colluded with some unauthorised people to hide a decision which led to the substitution of some of our candidates. There is a regulation on the activities of the party and even authorised officers that are supposed to be engaging INEC. In a situation where multiple letters were submitted, some with suspected forged signatures, that is why we feel the need to bring it to light,” Dr Mohammed said.
He alleged that unauthorised letters were submitted to INEC headquarters, leading to the substitution of their candidates in Kano.
“This officer you are talking about, is he an officer of INEC? Yes, he is an officer of INEC, who is supposed to have dealt with authorised people. We have seen multiple letters delivered to INEC headquarters. Those things constitute part of the reason why some of our candidates were actually substituted,” he explained.
Dr Mohammed said the group has asked INEC to investigate the officer before taking further action, adding that they were satisfied with the assurances given by the Resident Commissioner.
“Alhamdulillah, he received us very well and has given us assurance that he is going to do the needful within his own power. We are expecting him to escalate this particular petition up to the headquarters, which he assures us he is going to do today,” he said.
