INEC declares Kebbi gubernatorial election inconclusive

• As Katsina PDP rejects outcome of poll
• We are analyzing election results, says Kano APC

The governorship election in Kebbi State has been declared inconclusive.

Announcing the result, yesterday, at the Independent national Electoral Commission (INEC) headquarters, Birnin Kebbi, the state capital, the Collation Officer, Prof. Yusuf Saidu, of Usman Danfodio University, Sokoto, said the total number of cancelled votes was more than the number of valid votes, while the number of registered voters was 2,032,041, and the number of accredited voters was 766,367.

He added that the governorship candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Nasir Idris, scored 388,358, while Mohammed Bande of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) score 342,980, as the total valid votes was 742, 234.

Prof Saidu stated that rejected votes were 18, 204 and the total votes cast was 760,438, and the number of cancelled Permanent Voter Cards (PVC) was 91,829, which was more than the number that voted.

He said: “The difference was 41,580 while the number of cancelled votes and over-voting was more than the number that voted. In accordance with the Electoral Act 2022, I declared this governorship election inconclusive.”

The affected councils, where there would be rerun elections in some polling units are Jega, Gwandu, Koko Besse, Kalgo, Dandi, Maiyama and Sakaba.

MEANWHILE, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Katsina State has rejected the outcome of Saturday’s governorship election in which Dr. Dikko Radda of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) emerged winner.

Radda, former Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) boss, had beaten 12 other contestants after garnering 859,892 votes.

His closest rival, Yakubu Lado, of the PDP got 486,662 votes, while the second runner up was the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), which secured a total of 8,263 votes.

Speaking with journalists, yesterday, Director General Atiku/Lado Campaign Organisation, Dr. Mustapha Inuwa, said the party condemned the outcome of the exercise and will go to court to reclaim their mandate.

Inuwa said the poll was characterised by thuggery and violence, ballot box snatching and destruction of ballot papers, as well as “intimidation of voters and monetary inducement.”

ALSO, following the declaration of the candidate of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP), Abba Kabir Yusuf, the winner of Saturday’s governorship election in Kano State, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state has said the party is carefully analysing the election process and collation of results in the just concluded governorship election. In a statement signed by the State Commissioner for Information and Internal Affairs, Muhammad Garba, the APC would come up with its position at the appropriate time.