Upcoming Local Government Election: Major Parties Pull Out
On Tuesday, it became clear that major opposition parties in Adamawa State won’t have candidates in the local government election on Saturday, July 13.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) are missing from the list of 12 parties with candidates for the election.
Earlier, both APC and SDP had doubts about Adamawa State Independent Electoral Commission (ADSIEC) holding a fair election on the set date. They insisted they would not join the poll.
And they’ve kept their promise. The final list of 12 participating parties, shown to the media on Tuesday, confirmed that APC and SDP are not participating.
In the previous governorship election, APC came second and SDP third, following the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Adamawa State.
ADSIEC Chairman Mohammed Umar, in a news briefing about the upcoming council election, said no party would be forced to participate. However, he reassured everyone that the Commission aims to conduct a fair election.
He denied claims that some candidates were disqualified illegally, or that results had already been prepared in advance.
He emphasized that ADSIEC cannot disqualify any candidate unfairly. He also mentioned that result sheets haven’t been printed yet, so all results will be genuine and reflect what happens in the election.
“We are prepared for the election. It will occur in all 4,104 polling units across the state, and results will be recorded as they come in,” he said.
According to Umar, 12 political parties have 60 chairmanship candidates vying for positions in the 21 local government areas of the state.
The 12 parties are: Accord Party (AP), Action Alliance (AA), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), African Democratic Congress (ADC), Alliance Peoples Movement (APM), Labour Party (LP), All Peoples Party (APP), New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), National Rescue Movement (NRM), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and Peoples Redemption Party (PRP).