The All Progressives Congress (APC), in Benue state has said that it will steer clear of the local government election scheduled to hold across the 23 local government areas of the state this Saturday.
The APC stated this in a statement signed by its state acting publicity secretary, James Ornguga and made available to newsmen in Makurdi.
The party described the local government election as kangaroo which had already be programmed to handpick and declare all PDP candidates.
Ornguga explained that the party was prepared for the election and submitted a list of validly nominated candidates but unfortunately, “the Benue State Independent Electoral Commission, (BSIEC), acting the script of Benue State Government declared all APC candidates as not properly nominated hence, disqualified.
“We have received concerns from the media and the general public regarding APC’s preparedness for tomorrow’s local government elections in Benue State.
“This is to inform the general public that the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Benue State is not party to the kangaroo local government election which is already programmed to handpick and declare all PDP candidates.
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“The matter is still in court but we have been excluded and APC shall not feature on the ballot tomorrow for any position.
“We call on our teeming supporters not to waste their time going to vote tomorrow for the process is a mere formality, devoid of credibility.
“We also urge all APC candidates who were illegally disqualified not to express any regret as those who won chairmanship and councillorship elections in Benue since 2017 are still owed various shades of allowances till date”, the statement said.
Mr. Orguga, however, assured that the party is regrouping and strategizing for victory in 2023 and shall not be deterred by any ill- treatment accorded them at this moment.
In a related development, the Information Officer for BSIEC, Ngodoo Tyoyem, disclosed that only five(5) political parties including All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Labor Party(LP), African Congress (AC), Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Peoples Democratic(PDP) will participate in the election.
Meanwhile, the Benue State Police Command said it has deployed 5,200 officers to man polling units in the 23 local government areas of the State.
The command Public Relations Officer, DSP Catherine Anene disclosed this to newsmen on Friday in her office saying the men have been trained to observe Covid – 19 protocol during the polls.
According to her, the election will commence by 8a.m and end by 6p.m while they would start to enforce the curfew already in place as from 8p.m.
