The Independent National Electoral Commission INEC in Kano has said it is neutral in the dispute over the omission of the National Democratic Congress NDC governorship candidate from its list.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner in Kano, Abdu Zango, stated this on Friday when he received a petition from hundreds of Kwankwasiyya supporters who marched to the INEC state office.
The commission explained the reason for the omission. He said there is still a window for appeal until October 24.
”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,” Zango said.
”We received all the complaints and assured the delegation that their petition will receive the necessary attention. 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,” he added.
Zango praised the group for choosing a peaceful and orderly approach instead of violence.
He also spoke about the ongoing Permanent Voter Card PVC collection, which started on October 9. He was happy with the turnout so far. He promised that collection points will be extended to Registration Areas to make it easier for people.
The petition was submitted by the Deputy Governorship Candidate, Mustapha Kwankwaso, on behalf of the candidate, Comrade Aminu Abdussalam Gwarzo. The group followed all the rules for nominating candidates and described the exclusion as unjust.
The spokesperson of the Kwankwasiyya Movement, Dr. Habib Mohammed, also raised allegations of forgery and collusion by an INEC staff member. He said letters with suspected forged signatures were used to substitute some of their candidates.
Dr. Mohammed said the group was satisfied with the assurances given by the REC, they expect the petition to be escalated to INEC headquarters
