RERUN – ELECTIONS: How Politicians Manipulated Imperverished Citizens With Vote Buying

In the Kaduna rerun

-election held on Saturday, there was a low turnout of voters in Sabon-Tasha, Narayi, and Maraban Rido areas of the Chikun Local Government Area. However, there was an impressive turnout of voters in Makera, Barnanwa in Kaduna South LGA, where party agents alleged vote-buying.

Accreditation and voting started at around 9:15 am at the Kakuri Hausa Gora Street polling unit 0045 and polling unit 0023 in the Kakuri Hausa ward. Despite some initial hiccups with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System at one of the polling units, the issue was resolved, and voting proceeded peacefully.

Allegations of vote-buying were reported at the Barnawa Market Polling Unit, where party agents claimed that votes were being bought for amounts ranging from N10,000 to N15,000. An agent of the Peoples Democratic Party, Amina Suleman , expressed her dissatisfaction with the situation and called for the presence of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate.

Ana’s Murktar, another PDP agent, supported the allegation of vote-buying, while the APC agent, Aminu Yakubu, denied the claims and stated that the polling unit was filled with supporters of the APC. He called on the PDP to cooperate with the ruling party for the progress of the nation.

The Kaduna bye-election was conducted in 44 constituencies across the country, with elections taking place in six constituencies covering seven Local Government Areas of Chikun, Igabi, Kaduna South, Kudan, Kachia, Kagarko, and Kauru. Various security agencies were present to ensure a smooth and peaceful conduct of the election.