Confusion, tension and uncertainty engulfed the African Democratic Congress (ADC) governorship primaries in Jigawa State on Wednesday morning as the party failed to declare winners more than 48 hours after the exercise began.

The prolonged collation process, which has kept party delegates, aspirants and supporters on edge since Monday, reached a dramatic turning point at about 1:45 a.m. when the Chairman of the ADC Electoral Committee in Jigawa State, retired DIG Zaki Ahmed, announced the suspension of the exercise.

Addressing party stakeholders at the collation centre located at Tahir Hotel in Dutse, the state capital, Ahmed revealed that results had only been received from 19 out of the 27 local government areas of the state.

“We have results from 19 local governments out of 27 local governments. We are awaiting results from Kaugama, Auyo, Kazaure, Gwiwa, Hadejia, and Gwaram,” he declared.

The retired police chief attributed the delay to widespread irregularities, security concerns and internal disputes that disrupted the exercise in several local government areas.

“Babura, Hadejia and Gwaram are characterised by irregularities — threat of violence in Gwaram, malpractices in Hadejia and Babura — and there was no election completely in Guri Local Government as a result of conflict between factional leaders,” he stated.

Ahmed subsequently announced the suspension of the collation process until after Eid prayers today, fixing 2 p.m. for continuation of the exercise.

“We are going to suspend this exercise. We’ll continue tomorrow after Eid prayer. Thereafter, a winner will be declared,” he added.

The delay has heightened political anxiety within the party, especially as official results for the governorship, State House of Assembly, House of Representatives, Senate and presidential primaries in Jigawa State remain undeclared.

Investigations revealed that the major source of the deadlock is the fiercely contested governorship race between Hon. Adamu Jumbo and Senator Sabo Nakudu, whose supporters have reportedly engaged in intense lobbying and disputes over the outcome of results from key local government areas.

Party faithful who had thronged the collation venue in anticipation of final declarations were left stranded overnight as the exercise stretched into the early hours of Wednesday without conclusion.

Meanwhile, tension continues to build over pending results from Roni, Auyo and Kazaure local government areas, while the credibility of results from Babura, Hadejia and Gwaram remains under scrutiny following allegations of malpractice and threats of violence.

In Guri Local Government Area, the situation was even more chaotic, as the electoral committee confirmed that no election took place due to clashes between rival factional leaders within the party.
As of the time of filing this report, no official winner had emerged in any of the major categories of the ADC primaries in Jigawa State.