The African Democratic Congress has alleged that the conduct of Saturday’s bye-elections across 13 states and 16 constituencies was marred by violence, vote buying, and manipulation.
The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi in a statement said the polls were a reflection of how badly Nigeria’s electoral process had deteriorated under the current administration.
According to the ADC, the elections was a sad commentary on the state of democracy in the country, which he described as “flawed and compromised,” and should not be regarded as a test of the strength of the opposition coalition.
The statement read in part: “What Nigerians witnessed in yesterday’s bye-elections is yet another reminder that under the APC-led government, democracy itself, just like the economy and national security, continues to decline”.
The ADC accused the Independent National Electoral Commission of administrative lapses and questioned its credibility following reports of failures in the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) in several polling centres.
“INEC must not be allowed to turn excuses into a code of conduct,” Abdullahi said, stressing that no government could claim legitimacy if elections continued to be tainted by fraud and violence.
The party alleged that in some states, armed thugs numbering nearly 300 were arrested, while entire polling units were cancelled due to ballot box snatching and voter intimidation.
The party warned that the irregularities witnessed on Saturday could serve as a dangerous prelude to the 2027 general elections if left unchecked.
The ADC appealed to the international community, civil society, and the media not to remain silent in the face of what it described as “electoral banditry,” saying Nigeria was too important to Africa and the world to allow its democracy to collapse.
He said: “The sanctity of the ballot must be defended today or there may be nothing left to defend tomorrow”.
It equally called on President Tinubu to “rise above partisan interest” and provide genuine leadership that would guarantee the safety and freedom of voters, while also urging INEC to investigate reported cases of malpractice and sanction officials found culpable.
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