Nasarawa LG poll turns violent, majority leader, commissioner escape death

The Majority Leader of Nasarawa State House of Assembly, Mr. Umaru Tanko Tunga and Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Mr. Aliyu Turaki, narrowly escaped death yesterday during the primary election of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in Awe Local Government Area of the state. The election was held to elect the chairmanship candidate […]

The Majority Leader of Nasarawa State House of Assembly, Mr. Umaru Tanko Tunga and Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Mr. Aliyu Turaki, narrowly escaped death yesterday during the primary election of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in Awe Local Government Area of the state.

The election was held to elect the chairmanship candidate for the October 6, 2021 council election in the state.

Speaking to our correspondent, an aide to the immediate past chairman of the local government, Mr. Yusuf Dogara, alleged that the Assembly Majority Leader and the Commissioner had “hijacked the process in their attempt to rig and impose their preferred candidate against the wishes of the majority of the electorate.”

Dogara, while speaking in a telephone interview with our correspondent, further alleged that the two politicians succeeded in “illegally shifting the election” to Lafia, the state capital, as against the electoral guidelines issued by the state Independent Electoral Commission.

Effort to reach the Majority Leader Umaru Tanko-Tunga, over the alleged plot, proved abortive as he neither picked calls to his phone nor responded to a text message sent to him, at the time of filing this report.