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Billy Graham Abel Yola
Results trickling in from the statewide local government polls in Adamawa on Saturday 7th December, 2019, suggests that the ruling party in the state, the PDP, has clinched all the 21 local government chair persons seats in the state.
The elections which started behind schedule in most of the places visited was however concluded without a record of major skirmishes in all the 21 local governments of the state.
Consequent upon the successful completion of the elections, the state government has issued a statement signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Bashir Ahmed, announcing the swearing-in of the new local government officials slated for Monday 9th December, 2019.
The outcome of the elections has however been challenged by the outspoken former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir David Lawal, describing the elections as a sham, its outcome fictitious and its entire conduct a shameful treatment of the people of Adamawa state.
Babachir said, “In my local government, Hong, elections did not hold, there was no voting materials and no elections officials showed, so where did they get the figures from?” He queried.
“There was no election in Hong LGA even in a single polling unit. No election materials and no election officials were sighted up to 4 pm on saturday.
“This angered some youths who set up burn-fires and barricades on the road in Hong.
“It took the intervention of some of us elders and the police before they calmed down and removed the barricades.
“It is such a shameful treatment of our people and we have taken note.
“We had expected this state government to conduct a credible election because it would not have come to power if the Federal Government had not allowed INEC to conduct a free and fare election.
“Such a shame! Such a crass disrespect of the people.”
It has however, become a worrying recurring decimal in local government elections in Nigeria that the government in power sweeps the polls.
This bizarre statistics not only suggests a weakness in our electoral system but points to a larger problem beckining for a wholistic electoral reform in the country
