The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, on Tuesday, declared the Zamfara Central senatorial district election inconclusive.
The INEC Returning Officer of the senatorial district, Prof. Ahmad Galadima, said the cancellation affected not less than 74 polling units from 19 registration areas of Bungude, Gusau and Tsafe.
According to him, the total number of Permanent Voter Cards collected were 43,881, which was more than the margin lead of the two political parties with the highest votes.
The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, candidate scored 93,120 while the All Progressives Congress polled 79,444.
“With a lead margin of 13,676, the result can only be declared inconclusive,” Galadima said.
Also, the INEC Returning Officer of Gusau/Tsafe federal constituency, Dr. Aminu Dabai, also announced the cancellation of 38 polling units affected from both Gusau and Tsafe Local Government Areas.
According to Dabai, the results from the seven RAs had an insignificant lead margin between PDP and APC.
The returning officers disclosed that the electoral body would communicate on fixing supplementary elections.
Regulation and administration of elections
The administration of democratic elections in Nigeria dates back to the period before Independence when the Electoral Commission of Nigeria (ECN) was inaugurated in 1958 to conduct the 1959 federal elections. Prior to 1958, regional laws and government regulated and conducted elections.
ECN was headed by an expatriate, Ronald Edward Wraith and four Nigerian members representing each region and the Federal Capital Territory of Lagos.
The Federal Electoral Commission (FEC), established in 1960 conducted the immediate post-independence federal and regional elections of 1964 and 1965.[6] Prior to the conduct of the 1964 election, the Chief Electoral Officer, Kofo Abayomi resigned and some party officials from the NCNC and Action Group doubted the credibility of a free and fair election.
The electoral body was dissolved after the military coup of 1966 in Nigeria. In 1978, the Federal Electoral Commission(FEDECO) was constituted by the regime of General Olusegun Obasanjo, organizing the elections of 1979 which ushered in the Nigerian Second Republic under the leadership of Alhaji Shehu Shagari. It also conducted the general elections of 1983.
In December 1995, the military government under the leadership of general Sani Abacha established the National Electoral Commission of Nigeria which conducted another set of elections. These elected institutions were not inaugurated before the sudden death of General Abacha in June 1998 aborted the process.
In 1998, General Abdulsalam Abubakar’s Administration dissolved National Electoral Commission of Nigeria (NECON) and established the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
INEC organized the transitional elections that ushered in the Nigerian Fourth Republic on May 29, 1999.
In January 2015, the “#BringBackOurGirls group raised the alarm over plans by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to exclude Chibok and some communities currently under the control of the Boko Haram from getting the permanent voter cards (PVCs) for the February elections.