The Zamfara State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has alleged a plot to rig the forthcoming rerun of the Kaura Namoda South State Assembly by-election.
In a statement, the party claimed it had credible information of a late-night meeting between the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), officials of the state government and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The meeting was said to have held at the Government House in Gusau and lasted until the early hours of the day.
According to the APC, the discussions allegedly centred on three issues: plans to exclude the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) from the rerun, the use of government house security personnel to man polling units, and alleged inducement of the REC with ₦250 million.
The APC argued that removing the BVAS from the rerun would create room for vote manipulation, given that about 3,000 votes are at stake while its candidate already leads with over 1,600 votes.
The party also expressed fears that involving security personnel attached to the Government House would compromise neutrality in favour of the PDP.
The statement further urged the INEC National Chairman to remove the current REC from overseeing the rerun and to deploy a neutral official to ensure fairness.
It also called on security agencies, including the police, DSS and NSCDC, to restrict their Government House operatives to their official duty posts during the rerun.
The APC reaffirmed its commitment to peace and lawfulness, stressing that it would remain calm “as long as the right thing is done.”
INEC and the Zamfara State Government were yet to respond to the allegations at the time of filing this report.
