The All Progressives Congress in Plateau State has announced that it will not participate in the rerun elections scheduled for Saturday in several Wards within the state.
This decision follows a local government election held on October 9, 2024, where results were not announced in 21 Wards, necessitating a rerun to determine the winners.
As the Plateau State Independent Electoral Commission prepares for the upcoming exercise, the leading opposition party has expressed its dissatisfaction with the conduct of the previous elections, despite securing a few Councillorship seats.
In a statement issued on Thursday in Jos, the State Acting Publicity Secretary of the APC, Shittu Bamaiyi, stated, “The Plateau State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress has resolved not to participate in next Saturday’s so-called Local Government Elections re-run in Plateau State. The Party has instructed its supporters to distance themselves from the so-called re-run elections.”
Bamaiyi further emphasized the party’s stance, saying, “The Party resolved that, since PLASIEC and its paymaster the Plateau State government have no respect for the will and choice of the people as well as the tenets of democracy, there was no reason for the APC to give recognition and also re-validate illegality, under whatever guise. It is ridiculous that the same PLASIEC, which shockingly described the local government elections as transparent, free and fair, could come up with re-run elections in some selected Electoral Wards of the State.”
He added, “It could have been neater if the entire elections were nullified based on well-established and genuine complaints arising from the conduct of the elections by some political parties other than the PDP. It will be foolhardy, a waste of resources, and a security risk for the APC to further expose its supporters to the so-called re-run because, from all indications, it will be a repeat of what happened last week Wednesday.”
The APC has urged its Councillorship candidates and supporters in the affected Electoral Wards to disregard PLASIEC’s directives regarding the rerun.
The party also commended the people of Plateau State, particularly its supporters, for demonstrating their political direction to the PDP-led government and appealed for them to remain calm and peaceful.
