From Fred Itua, Abuja
Candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) senatorial district in the just-concluded Presidential and National Assembly elections, Mubarak Tijjani, has vowed to appeal the emergence of Ireti Kingibe of Labour Party (LP).
Addressing newsmen in Abuja, he said the outcome of the elections didn’t reflect the wishes of FCT residents, insisting the emergence of Kingibe was unacceptable.
He said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) didn’t perform its function very well. He accused the Commission of conniving with LP to compromise the outcome of the elections.
He said: “I’ve been calling my people to remain calm. The recent National Assembly elections in the FCT didn’t reflect the wish of the people. In FCT, there are nine indigenous ethnic groups. It is a complex place. Everyone from every part of Nigeria lives here.
“Today, FCT indigenes are the ones left behind in terms of human development, infrastructure and others. Anybody can contest for the leadership of the FCT. As a result of that, we have different people going for different positions.
“We were disappointed by the outcome of the National Assembly elections in Abuja. We were sabotaged. INEC didn’t do its job. Labour Party and INEC worked together to sabotage the elections. INEC changed our logo on the ballot paper. NNPP’s logo was changed. That was how Ireti Kingibe was elected by INEC. FCT people didn’t elect her.
“This is not going to drive peace. It will only drive violence. In many places, the logo was completely omitted. We applied for tags for our agents. But we were told by INEC that they couldn’t print tags for our agents. But on elections day, we say Labour Party agents come out with their tags. Our agents were not allowed to conduct their assignments.
“There were cases of over voting. INEC’s returning officer didn’t want to announce the results. He did that under duress. FCT doesn’t have a Minister. The only Representatives they’ve are lawmakers. They’ve lost that too