‘I leave outcome of elections to God’ – Yaman, Kwara PDP flagbearer

By Fatima Mohammed-Lawal

Alhaji Shuaib Yaman, the Kwara Governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has said that he has decided to leave the outcome of the elections to God.

Yaman, who lamented this while speaking with newsmen on Monday in Ilorin, submitted that he would not congratulate Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq on the election victory.

According to him, the March 18 governorship election was fraught with electoral malpractices.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Sunday declared that the PDP flagbearer came second in the polls won by the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Gov. Abdulrazaq.

The final results showed that the APC polled 273,424 votes while the PDP got 155,490 votes and the SDP came third with 18,922 votes.

The PDP leader stated that he would keep the decision to continue in politics or not within himself for now, adding that he would be returning to Kaduna state to face his business.

“For the fact that political thugs were used, calls for concern among Nigerians, especially, among our people and relevant stakeholders.

“Voter apathy in the last governorship elections was far greater than before, while the number of voters was greater than the presidential elections.

“And I think INEC has questions to answer on the electoral process too. Security forces were used against people and I wouldn’t know if they are real security operatives, while the APC monetarized the elections. Our collation officers were chased away in many places,” he alleged.

Yaman, who was emotional and close to tears while addressing the party supporters, chastised some party members in some senatorial districts for their alleged acts of betrayal and anti-party activities.

He, however, admonished the PDP members and supporters in the state to keep hope alive, praying that God will repay their good intentions with good rewards.

He said “the spirit that keeps us should be kept alive. God will not repay your good intentions with bad.

“We need to recover from dark evil. We cannot afford to be led by incompetent and people who do not know what to do to lead. One day, our efforts would be beneficial to us or our children.

“Kwara will rise up again and our group will thrive. This is a moment to retreat and ponder. This is not the end. Let’s prepare for battle ahead. It’s not over yet,” he said.

(NAN)