The National Vice Chairman (Northeast) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mustapha Salihu, has dismissed allegations that he stole election materials during Saturday’s State Constituency by-elections in Adamawa State.

Earlier reports indicated that angry youths in Ganye blocked Salihu’s SUV, accusing him of hiding Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices and a ballot box in his vehicle. A viral video of the incident sparked suspicions that he was attempting to compromise the electoral process.

Speaking at a press conference in Yola, Salihu rejected the claims, insisting that he never attempted to manipulate the election. According to him, his actions were to protect sensitive materials from what he described as a deliberate move by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to disrupt the counting exercise.

Salihu said, “What actually happened was that the Speaker of the State Assembly and the PDP Chairman mobilized thugs to snatch election materials because it was obvious they were losing.

“I immediately asked security operatives to disperse the crowd and ensure only party agents remained to monitor the sorting and counting of ballots.

“The thugs became violent, and I quickly intervened by instructing a police officer to secure the materials. Afterwards, we called the AIG to send reinforcements. That’s exactly what happened – I never moved an inch with the materials as alleged. Why would I snatch election materials at a unit where I was clearly winning?”

Citing specific polling unit results, Salihu noted: “At Unit 06, Ganye 1 Ward, APC scored 86 votes while PDP got 36. At Unit 010, APC had 65 votes while PDP got 40.

“The PDP State Chairman, Barr. Shehu and the Speaker mobilised to destroy ballot boxes after officials refused to compromise the results.

“On receiving reports, I rushed there with police officers, secured the materials, and handed them over to security reinforcements, exactly as seen in the viral video.”

He added, “This was at the ward of the PDP State Chairman, who vowed to resign from politics if he lost. They recruited commissioners, LGA chairmen, and the Speaker to hijack the process. But I stood my ground until the police took charge. What motive would I have to snatch ballot boxes when my party was winning?”

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officially declared Misa Musa Jauro of the APC the winner of the Ganye State Constituency House of Assembly by-election, held to fill the vacancy left by his late brother.

Jauro polled 15,923 votes, narrowly defeating the PDP candidate, Buba Muhammed Joda, who secured 15,794 votes, a slender margin of just 129 votes.