The political atmosphere in Borno has taken a fresh turn as the Peoples Democratic Party announced it will stay away from the forthcoming local government elections, insisting it cannot participate in a process it no longer regards as credible.
Party officials said the electoral environment has become “too compromised and financially exclusionary” to guarantee a fair contest.
The decision followed deliberations by the party’s State Executive Committee, where senior members agreed that the conditions set for participation had eroded confidence in the exercise.
Officials argued that the electoral process demanded financial commitments that were unrealistic for many aspirants already facing economic hardship nationwide.
The announcement was made in a communiqué issued after the meeting in Maiduguri. PDP spokesperson Amos Adziba explained that the choice to pull out was inevitable, stressing that the party had repeatedly raised concerns over transparency issues in the Borno State Independent Electoral Commission.
Adziba said the electoral body failed to convince other political actors that the polls would be free of manipulation or what he described as “routine interference by those in power”.
He noted that PDP members considered the environment “tilted against meaningful competition”.
“Our position is clear: there is no basis to trust a process that offers no safeguards against abuse,” he said, insisting that the party could not “legitimise an election structured to favour a single political interest”.
He also criticised the high cost of expression of interest and nomination forms, saying the fees suggested that the commission was “insensitive to the country’s economic realities”.
According to him, the financial burden discouraged wider participation and undermined democratic values.
Another sticking point for the party was the refusal of the state government to amend the electoral law to ensure results are announced at the ward and local government levels.
PDP leaders argued that maintaining the old system leaves room for manipulation.
“If the laws remain unchanged, then the same loopholes that have enabled questionable outcomes in the past will persist,” Adziba noted. “We cannot pretend that these issues do not matter.”
Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress has reaffirmed its readiness to participate fully in the polls.
The party’s chairman, Bello Ayuba, earlier announced that preparations were complete and that the APC had already notified the electoral commission of its participation.
Ayuba stated that the party had mobilised its supporters across the state, expressing optimism that it would sweep the elections once they began.
This latest disagreement sets the stage for a politically charged weekend in Borno, highlighting the ongoing debate over electoral credibility, governance, and public trust across the country.