FCT Polls: PDP, YPP Raise Alarm Over Alleged Vote Buying in Gwagwalada

Party agents of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Young Progressives Party (YPP) have raised concerns over alleged vote buying during the ongoing Federal Capital Territory (FCT) area council elections in Gwagwalada.

The allegations were made at polling units in Better Life, UBE and Kotangora communities within the Gwagwalada Area Council.

According to the YPP agent, Momoh Abdul, ballot papers were not being issued in serial order. He alleged that officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were tearing ballot papers from the bottom of the booklet instead of the top.

“The officials are not issuing the ballot papers serially. They are tearing from the end of the booklet, which raises concern,” Abdul said.

He also alleged that votes were being bought for between N500 and N3,000, depending on negotiations between party representatives and voters.

Similarly, PDP agent Yahaya Umar said any form of inducement could affect the credibility of the election.

However, the agent of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Hamidu Gimba, dismissed the claims. He stated that he had been present throughout voting and had not witnessed any vote buying.

The presiding officer at Polling Unit 002 in Gwagwalada, Francis Ihyomna, also rejected claims that ballot papers were not being issued in sequence.

“I have been issuing the ballot papers serially. We started with ballot paper number one and are still using it. No numbers have been skipped, and there has been no rejected ballot,” Ihyomna said.

He acknowledged a report of a missing name in the voter register, describing it as a minor omission. According to him, a voter identified as Aisha was initially unable to find her name at the unit but was later traced to another polling station.

Earlier, the YPP agent had also reported instances of voters’ names not appearing in the INEC register.