Fresh Tension In Plateau As INEC Counters Court Judgment, Excludes PDP From Re-run

Ahead of the Plateau North Senate re-run slated for Saturday, controversy over the exclusion of the logo of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the ballot by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

This discovery was made as INEC commenced the distribution of sensitive electoral materials to the six Local Government Areas of Plateau state.

GWG.ng reports that the distribution of the electoral materials was done in the premises of the Central Bank of Nigeria in Jos, the state capital

However, as soon as the distribution of the materials started, it was discovered that the PDP logo was missing on the ballot papers while APC, PRP, and LP were captured on the ballot.

This development triggered tension in the vicinity as members of the PDP who gathered to witness the distribution of the election materials were seen protesting the non-inclusion of their party while accusing INEC of acting against the Court of Appeal judgment which said that all parties shall contest in the re-run.

Members of the Peoples Democratic Party and their supporters in Plateau state had on Wednesday staged a protest at the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission in Jos over an alleged exclusion of the party in the forthcoming re-run election scheduled for February 3, 2023, but officials of the electoral body had assured them that the issue would be taken care of.

The protesters demanded evidence of the inclusion of the PDP on the ballot for Plateau North Senatorial District and Bassa/Jos North Federal Constituency where the re-rerun would take place on Saturday.

Before the protests, there had been rumours that the PDP and its candidates will not participate in the re-rerun poll following the Court of Appeal judgement which nullified the elections in the two constituencies earlier won by the party’s candidates -Senator Simon Mwadkwon for Plateau North and Musa Agah, for Jos North/Bassa Federal Constituency.

The Court of Appeal had based the nullification of their elections on the ground that the PDP which nominated them as candidates had no structure.

Agah and Mwadkwon were declared by INEC during the 2023  winners of the February 2023 National Assembly Elections for Plateau North Senatorial District and Bassa/Jos North Federal Constituency, but petitions against the PDP and its candidates which succeeded at the Appeal court were filed by LP’s Plateau North Senatorial Candidates, Gyang Zi and PRP’s Bassa/Jos North Federal Constituency Candidate Mohammad Adam Alkali and a rerun elections were ordered in the two constituencies by the Appellate court

In compliance with the Court of Appeal decision, INEC announced February 3rd 2024 as the date for the rerun.

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