Kwankwaso: There was ‘mago mago’ in Kano poll because only one party contested

Rabiu Kwankwaso, senator representing Kano central, says the alleged underage voting in the state’s local government polls could only have happened because “only one party” contested the election.

Kwankwaso said it would be impossible to rig an election if several political parties are involved.

Images of ineligible voters had surfaced on social media after the February 10 election which was overwhelmingly won by the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Reacting, Mohammed Garba, the state commissioner for information, had said the videos and pictures were captured during the 2015 polls.

In an  interview with Osasu Igbinedion on The Osasu Show, Kwankwaso said it was the first time he would see a group of children queuing up to vote.

According to him, if such happens in the 2019 elections, other political parties would ask the underage voter to “get out of this place”.

“In all elections, there should be more than one party contesting. If you have more than one party, then party A will not Allow part B to do any form of mago mago, especially the issue of people who are below 18,” Kwankwaso said.

“In 2019, if you go there, no child will go close to any ballot box because if you are coming to vote for A, B will say get out of this place.

“But those ones, I think they were invited to go and thumbprint because the real people were not there, the Kwakwansiya and the PDP weren’t there.

“This is the first time I can see only children on the line or queue trying to vote I am seeing the type of thing that is happening.

Asked to score the performance of the APC-led federal government, the ex-Kano governor said: “So far so good, the administration is doing its best, so also the party.

“But I hope the government and our party should do much more than what we have seen in the last three years so that by 2019, the good people of this country can come out again and vote for our candidates from the councillorship up to the position of president under the party.

“This last one year is very crucial for the party, the government and the country.”

Kwankwaso says he has not decided if he will seek any political position in 2019, nor is he mulling any plan to decamp from the APC.

“The issue of decamping or leaving APC is not on the table now. We are looking at how the various stakeholders in our party will look at the situation, not only in Kano but there are many other places that something should be done,” he said.

“People who understand democracy go into politics first and foremost as politicians. From 1991 to date, I contested 16 elections and won 14 and lost two.

“Even the two are important to me because anybody who is in this age of politics who has never contested an election, or contested and only won or lost, to us is not yet complete. We can’t call him a complete politician.

“When the time comes, we look at ourselves, if we realise there is need to contest, we contest. Now I am a senator, I am a very happy and contented politician.”