Hajia Abibata Shanni Mahama Zakariah, CEO of MASLOC and New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentary aspirant for Yendi, has announced her intention to petition the National Executive Council of the party in response to the confusion that marred the parliamentary contest in the area on Saturday, January 27, 2024.

Speaking in an interview on Sankara Radio in Yendi, Hajia Abibata expressed her dismay, claiming that she was openly cheated during the counting process. She detailed the events, stating that when she confronted Farouk Aliu Mahama, the Member of Parliament for the constituency, he and his team disrupted the counting process.

Hajia Abibata recounted an incident where an Electoral Commission official supervising the poll was discovered with her ballots stuffed in his jacket in an attempt to destroy and conceal them, preventing them from being counted.

Describing the lack of transparency in the sorting process, she mentioned that regional representatives were present, and the EC official began counting without identifying the person being sorted for. The situation escalated when it was revealed that the official was destroying her ballots.

In response to these irregularities, Hajia Abibata stated, “I will have to submit a petition because according to our party constitution, you must exhaust the channels within the party before any action can be taken. Once I submit the petition, I expect the party to investigate the matter and resolve it accordingly because in an election, counting must be conducted, and a winner declared, and none of that happened in this case.”