By Emmanuel OGBECHE and Sarah NEGEDU
The ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, and main opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, have had strong finishing to the supplementary elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, on April 15, 2023.
The electoral commission had announced conduct of supplementary elections for two governorship, Kebbi and Adamawa states, 93 legislative seats across 24 states of the federation with a total of 2,660 polling units across 185 local governments are affected.
However, except for the Enugu East Senatorial seat and Esan North/Esan South/Igueben federal constituency, others were rolled over from the 25 February national and 18 March state elections.
The elections held in areas where they were previously suspended due to reasons including violence and the ‘margin of lead principle’. This is a situation where the vote margin between the winner and the first runner up is less than the cancelled votes.
Governorship
In one of the two governorship supplementary polls, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Kebbi state, Nasiru Idris, was declared the winner of the 2023 governorship election.
Idris was declared the winner on Sunday by the Returning Officer for Kebbi State, Yusuf Saidu in Birnin Kebbi, the state capital
Saidu, a Professor of Nutritional Biochemistry with the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, UDUS, said Idris polled a total of 409,225 votes to beat his close rival of the PDP, Maj-Gen. Aminu Bande (rtd.) who garnered 360,940 votes.
The vote margin between them is 48,285.
In the other rerun poll, the process could not proceed as the Resident Electoral Commissioner for Adamawa state, Nuhu Yunusa-Ansari, usurped the powers of the state returning officer to announce Senator Aisha Dahiru popularly known as Binana winner.
The national headquarters intervened immediately and reversed the announcement and summoned all parties to Abuja.
Senate rerun
In the Senate rerun, Ibrahim Bomai of the APC was announced as the senator-elect for Yobe South.
The INEC Returning Officer, Abatcha Melemi of the Federal University Gashua, made the declaration in Potiskum.
Mr Melemi stated that Mr Bomai, a serving senator, scored 69,596 votes to defeat Halilu Mazagane of the PDP who scored 68,885 votes.
He said Yerima Adamu of ADC scored 652 votes, while Jauro Ishaku of LP scored 471 votes and Isa Musa NNPP scored 3,277 votes while Maisambo Barde of YPP scored 448 votes.
In Sokoto, Governor, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, was declared the winner of the Sokoto South senatorial district election.
Tambuwal, a two term governor and candidate of the PDP emerged winner with a total number of 100,860 votes.
With a vote margin of 4,976, he defeated his closest rival of the APC and incumbent senator, Abdullahi Danbaba Dambuwa who scored 95,884 votes.
However, Tambuwal’s deputy could not scale through as a former governor of the state, and incumbent senator, Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko of the APC was declared winner for the Sokoto North Senatorial district.
Wamakko polled a total of 141,468 to defeat the deputy governor, Muhammad Manir Dan’Iya, of the PDP, who garnered a total votes of 118,445.
The candidate of the PDP in Zamfara state, Aliyu Ikira Bilbis, defeated the candidate of the APC, Senator Kabiru Marafa for Zamfara central senatorial seat.
Bilbis scored 102, 866 votes to defeat Marafa who polled 91,216 votes.
Reps elections
The candidate of the APC, Mark Bako Useni, was declared winner of the supplementary election for Takum, Ussa and Donga federal constituency for Taraba State.
Useni was the former speaker of the State House of Assembly and recently dumped the PDP for the APC.
Declaring the former speaker winner of the election, the INEC said the APC candidate scored a total votes of 25,929 to beat his opponents in both PDP, Istifanus Haruna Gbana and Rimam Shawulu of the New Nigerian Peoples Party, NNPP.
The candidates of the PDP won Gusau/ Tsafe and Gummi / Bukkuyum federal constituencies after Saturday’s rerun.
PDP’s Ahmadu Kabiru Mai Palace polled 63, 598 votes to defeat former speaker of the state assembly Alhaji Sanusi Garba Rikiji of the APC who got 52,495 votes in the race for the Gusau/ Tsafe federal constituency seat.
In Gummi/ Bukkuyum federal constituency, Sulaiman Gummi of the PDP scored 35, 664 votes to beat his closest rival Ahmad Muhammad of the APC who got 35,058 votes
Further, a 32-year-old student unionist, Bashir Usman Gorau, defeated, Musa S Adar, incumbent member representing Gada-Goronyo federal constituency.
Gorau polled 29,679 votes to defeat Adar of the APC who scored 25,549 votes.
The INEC declared Mr Sani Nazifi of the APC as the winner of Saturday’s supplementary election.
Nazifi, who represents Gumel-Gagarawa-Suletankar-Maigatar Federal Constituency, won the seat for the second time.
Prof. Ahmed Baita, the Returning Officer on Sunday in Gumel, declared Nazifi as the winner of the election.
Baita said Nazifi polled 49,893 votes to defeat his main rival, Ahmed Habu of the PDP, who scored 46,537 votes.
The INEC declared Rodney Ambaiowei of the PDP as the winner of the rerun election in the Southern Ijaw Federal Constituency of Bayelsa state.
According to the result declared by the returning officer, Professor Christopher Onyema, the PDP candidate polled a total of 13,992 votes to defeat the incumbent, Hon. Preye Oseke of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who scored 12,992 votes to come second.
State House
The INEC declared the candidate of the PDP, Ibrahim Kabir, winner of the Jigawa State House of Assembly supplementary election for the Birnin-Kudu constituency.
INEC returning officer, Professor Usman Haruna stated that Ibrahim Kabir having scored the highest number of votes is returned elected.
He said Ibrahim Kabir of PDP scored 36,050 votes to defeat his opponents Muhd Suraja of APC who scored -34,545 votes and Suleiman Abdullahi Abubakar of NNPP who scored 722 votes.
In another House of Assembly poll, INEC declared the candidate of the APC, Mr Ishaq Tasiu, as the winner of Saturday’s supplementary election for the State Assembly seat of Dutse Local Government Area of Jigawa state.
Prof. Ahmed Shehu, the returning officer, said Tasiu scored 31,311 votes to defeat his closest rival, Mr Adamu Alhaji of PDP, who polled 28,656 votes, while Umar Nura of NNPP got 792 votes.
In another department, INEC had also declared the candidate of the APC for the Yankwashi Local Government State Assembly supplementary election, Muhammad Ado, as the winner of the election.
The Returning Officer for the election, Prof. Abdulhamid Adamu, said Ado polled 9,479 votes to defeat the candidate of the PDP, Abdullahi Karkarna, who polled 5,606 votes and Haruna Babangida of NNPP, who polled 300 votes.
In Bayelsa, INEC declared the APC candidate, Obein Godknows, as the winner of the Ogbia Constituency II rerun election into the Bayelsa State House of Assembly.
In Kaduna, Abbas Faisal of the APC was declared as the winner of the supplementary election for Kudan House of Assembly seat in Kaduna State.
INEC Returning Officer, Prof. Dauda Aminu, declared the results in Hunkuyi on Sunday, saying that Faisal scored 22,993 votes to defeat his closest rival, Nura Abdulkarim of the PDP, who polled 22,878 votes.
