THREE major opposition political parties are absent from the ballot in Saturday’s bye-election conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Kano State.
The affected parties are the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), and a coalition involving the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
INEC has, however, declared its readiness to conduct what it described as a free, fair, and credible by-election in the Municipal and Ungogo state constituencies.
The off-season poll is being held to fill two vacant seats in the Kano State House of Assembly following the deaths of the former lawmakers last year.
At a recent media briefing, the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Kano, Abdul Zango, assured journalists that all political parties were participating in the exercise.
“All political parties were given equal opportunity to nominate candidates. The commission is fully prepared to conduct a transparent and credible election,” Zango had said.
However, the final list of candidates released by the commission showed that only nine political parties were cleared to contest, excluding the PDP, NNPP, and ADC.
According to INEC, the parties participating in the by-election include 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).
While the commission has yet to publicly explain the absence of the major opposition parties, the affected parties have accused INEC of deliberately denying them the opportunity to exercise their constitutional rights.
The NNPP, which is factionalised into three groups in Kano, reportedly submitted six different candidates for the two constituencies.
Reacting to the development, the Boniface-led faction of the NNPP, through Senator Mushud El-Jibril Doguwa, accused INEC of unjustly disqualifying its candidates.
“We duly submitted our candidates for the Municipal and Ungogo constituencies, but INEC refused to recognise our party for reasons best known to them,” Doguwa said.
He added, “This is a clear attempt to sideline us from the democratic process. We will not accept it. We are already consulting our lawyers and will institute legal action against INEC.”
Efforts to reach the Kwankwasiyya and Abdullahi Abiya-led factions of the NNPP were unsuccessful, as both chairmen could not be reached on the phone as of press time.
On his part, the Kano State Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Yusuf Kibiya, also accused the electoral body of violating provisions of the Electoral Act.
“We were ready and willing to participate in this by-election,” Kibiya said. “However, INEC only gave us four days to conduct our primaries and submit the names of candidates. That is not sufficient time, and it undermines the spirit of the law.”
He described the situation as “deeply troubling for democracy,” adding that the party would review its options.