The election was declared inconclusive by INEC on March 18, 2023.
However, the PDP Local Government Collation Officer, Simon Arabo, who refused to sign the result, described it as daylight robbery.
The PUNCH reports that in the Kahuta Polling Unit which had 995 registered voters in the two wards where the supplementary elections were conducted, the election was marred by voting buying and voter intimidation by thugs who intermittently, chased away voters while queuing to vote as well as attacking some journalists who were monitoring the elections.
Some voters who attempted to run to their homes were not so lucky enough as the thugs who were wielding dangerous weapons such as sticks, knives and cudgels, also followed and beat them up, thereby disenfranchising most of them. The police used tear gas canisters to disperse the invading thugs.
Our correspondent gathered that the thugs were allegedly brought on Friday night in two Sharon vehicles with the aim to disrupt the conduct of the election.
Some of the military officials who were deployed to restore sanity on the premises and ensure the peaceful conduct of the election was later withdrawn.
Immediately after the military men left the scene, thugs returned to the venue wielding sophisticated weapons while the police looked helplessly.
Meanwhile, Barnabas Haruna DanMaigona of the APC was declared the winner of the Kauri/Chawai State House of Assembly Constituency, following Saturday’s supplementary election.
He polled 23,687 votes to defeat his PDP counterpart, Yohanna Gandu Chawai, who came second with 23,656 votes in the keenly contested election, with the Labour Party Candidate, Adamu Bala who emerged a distant 3rd with 6,158 votes, as announced by the State Assembly Returning Officer, Professor Muhammad Sani Salau,
The APC state party Secretary, Yahaya Baba Pate, who also served as the party agent, called for all and sundry to support the member-elect for the desired dividends of democracy to abound for effective representation.
Samuel Arabo, the PDP collection officer for the re-run House of Assembly election in the Karau local government area described the election as a real scandal, saying, “The eligible voters were intimidated by thugs who caused confusion in the place and did not allow the voters to exercise their franchise.
The voters were denied the opportunity to cast their votes because when the PDP was leading, the only way the APC could do was to cause confusion through their thugs and as a result of the whole confusion, the PDP did not sign the result.”
The PDP House of Assembly for Chawai/Kauru, Yohana Chawai, described the re-run election as the best movie of the year, 2023, saying that it was a comedy that was marked with action thereby getting what they wanted at all costs.
He expressed gratitude for the party to have given him the chance to fly the party’s ticket in the 2023 House of Assembly in the local government and called on all party supporters to remain calm.
