The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has commenced a by-election today in Kano State's Municipal and Ungogo constituencies to fill two vacant seats in the Kano State House of Assembly, following the deaths of the previous lawmakers last year.
However, three major opposition parties, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP), and African Democratic Congress (ADC) are conspicuously absent from the ballot paper.
INEC's Kano Resident Electoral Commissioner, Amb. Abdul Zango, had earlier assured journalists that all political parties were participating in the exercise.
Yet the final list of candidates released by the commission includes only nine parties:
Accord (A), Action Democratic Party (ADP), Action Peoples Party (APP), African Action Congress (AAC), All Progressives Congress (APC), Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Young Progressives Party (YPP), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).
INEC has not publicly explained the exclusion of PDP, NNPP, and ADC.
The affected parties have accused the commission of deliberately denying them their constitutional right to participate.
According to reports, the NNPP experienced internal factionalism, with three factions submitting a total of six different candidates for the two constituencies.
Despite this, none were recognized on the ballot.Senator Mushud El-Jibril Doguwa, speaking for the Boniface-led faction of NNPP, alleged that INEC disqualified their candidate for “selfish reasons.”
He lamented that although the party submitted names, INEC refused to acknowledge NNPP's participation and vowed to pursue legal action against the commission.
Efforts to contact leaders of the Kwankwasiyya and Abdullahi Abiya-led NNPP factions were unsuccessful, as their chairmen could not be reached.Similarly, Kano State PDP Chairman, Alh. Yusuf Kibiya, accused INEC of breaching electoral laws.
He claimed the party was prepared to contest but was given only four days to conduct primaries and submit candidate names, an impossibly short timeframe.
The by-election is being held amid ongoing political tensions in Kano, and the absence of these key opposition parties has raised concerns about the inclusivity and competitiveness of the poll.
Voting is currently underway across the affected wards.
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