The Peoples Democratic Party on Wednesday raised alarm over an alleged plot by the All Progressives Congress to use security forces to suppress voters in the Zamfara State constituency supplementary election scheduled for Thursday.
Describing the development as a “recipe for crisis,” the party accused the APC-led administration under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of stifling Nigeria’s democratic space.
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja, the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, said the suppression of democracy was already evident in recent by-elections, particularly in the Kaura Namoda South State Constituency of Zamfara.
According to the Independent National Electoral Commission, 3,572 voters are registered in the affected polling units, with 3,265 of them having collected their Permanent Voter Cards.
INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of Voter Education and Publicity, Samuel Olumekun, explained that the margin of lead between the two top candidates was 1,662. In line with Section 24(3) and (4) of the Electoral Act 2022, fresh voting must therefore be conducted in the affected polling units to determine the winner.
But Ologunagba alleged that the election held on Saturday, August 16, 2025, had been marred by violence and intimidation.
He said: “Available reports reveal that the Kaura Namoda South State Constituency by-election held on Saturday, 16th August 2025 was marred by massive intimidation, threat and harassment of the voters by APC-controlled security agencies.
“Photographs/video evidence reveal the brutalisation of voters and carting away of ballot boxes by heavily armed security personnel, who boasted that they were acting on orders from above.
“As a result of the induced intimidation and suppression of votes, the election which was overwhelmingly won by the PDP was curiously declared ‘inconclusive’ in five polling units… with the intent to enable the APC manipulate the electoral process and allocate the victory of the PDP in the election to the APC.”
He further alleged that in its desperation to undermine the people’s will, the APC was deploying “heavy security forces” ahead of Thursday’s rerun.
“In their desperation to subvert the will of the people… the APC in an operation which allegedly has the involvement of a Minister from Zamfara State is currently deploying full battalions of the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Mobile Police Force and the Directorate of State Services from Abuja and other parts of the country to just five polling units in Zamfara State.
“This nefarious deployment is to foist a siege mentality on the people of the constituency, intimidate, terrorize and prevent them from coming out to exercise their constitutionally guaranteed right to vote, having realised that the APC has been soundly rejected by the people of Zamfara State.”
The PDP also claimed it had intelligence that the ruling party was planning to use security agencies to intimidate INEC officials, disrupt the voting process, and manipulate results against the people’s will.
Ologunagba said, “The implication of this ugly development under President Tinubu’s watch is that it constitutes a clear and present danger to democracy, stability and corporate existence of our country, knowing from history that the Zamfara people are not a conquered people but always standing firm to defend their rights in the face of any aggression.”
The party urged Nigerians and the international community to closely monitor the exercise, warning that the APC’s alleged resort to state-backed intimidation was “a clear signal of creeping totalitarianism and one-party rule” in the country.
It added: “This is a recipe for crisis! Nigerians and the international community must hold the APC accountable if any breakdown of law and order occurs in Kaura Namoda South State Constituency or elsewhere in Zamfara State.”
Ologunagba insisted that the PDP and the people of Zamfara would resist any attempt to subvert their mandate.
“Moreover, the PDP and of course the people of Zamfara State will not accept any results that is at variance with the expressed will of the people as evidenced by the already collated results from Kaura Namoda South State Constituency.
“It is clear and the APC should know that Zamfara State is a PDP State and the people are standing firmly with the PDP and Governor Dauda Lawal who has turned around the state with the implementation of life-enhancing infrastructural, human capital and citizen empowerment development programmes and will never surrender to the assaults of the APC.”
