Governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of intimidation, vote-rigging, and anti-democratic tactics during last weekend’s by-elections, which saw the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) consolidate its grip on power.
In a communiqué issued after a meeting in Gusau, Zamfara State, on Saturday, the PDP Governors’ Forum condemned what it described as “over-militarisation” of the August 9 polls, alleging widespread irregularities, violence, and vote-buying.
“The Forum expresses profound gratitude to members and supporters of the PDP nationwide for their steadfast loyalty in the face of serious intimidation and untold anti-democratic actions of the APC-led Federal Government,” the governors stated, insisting the outcome did not reflect the will of voters.
The PDP, alongside the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), has rejected the results, accusing the ruling party of using federal might to tilt the process.
The elections, conducted to fill vacant National Assembly seats, delivered a decisive win for the APC, which secured 12 constituencies. The PDP managed just one, while the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and the NNPP picked up two and one, respectively.
Despite the accusations, the presidency dismissed the allegations as baseless. Temitope Ajayi, the president’s senior special assistant on media and publicity, told media on Sunday: “You contested an election, and you lost. Instead of admitting failure, they are making excuses. There is nothing undemocratic in the posture of this government.”
Ajayi argued that opposition candidates were not hindered from campaigning or voting and said security forces provided protection. “It is in the interest of any ruling government to have a strong opposition, as it strengthens democracy and keeps the government on its toes,” he said but added that the PDP and its allies were “in total disarray.”
The APC’s North-Central Forum chairman, Saleh Zazzaga, went further, mocking the PDP’s internal divisions. “Is there any PDP again? There are factions. So, we don’t take them seriously,” he said. “The elections show that we are fully on the ground and that President Tinubu is coming back. The masses are truly with us, and that was why they voted our party massively.”
Highlighting APC’s wins in Kano, Kogi, and Zamfara, Zazzaga described the by-elections as a “testing ground” for the 2027 general elections.
But PDP governors said their party remained resilient despite what they described as orchestrated defections and “untold intimidation.” They urged supporters to remain committed, portraying the APC as a ruling party “with no agenda, no vision, and doomed to face inevitable rejection by the masses.”
