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Winners have emerged from Nigeria’s March 18th Gubernatorial and House of Assembly elections, and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has so far secured 14 governorship seats.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has won governorship seats in seven states, while the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) wrestled power from the APC in Kano state, according to results announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Eight governors have been re-elected for a second term. They are: Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe (APC), Seyi Makinde of Oyo (PDP), Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos (APC), Dapo Abiodun of Ogun (APC), Bala Mohammed of Bauchi (PDP), AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara (APC), Mai Mala Buni of Yobe (APC) and Babagana Umara Zulum of Borno (APC).
The new Governors-elect are: Umo Eno of Akwa-Ibom (PDP), Dikko Radda of Katsina (APC), Umar Bago of Niger (APC), Ahmed Aliyu of Sokoto (APC), Umar Namadi of Jigawa (APC), Uba Sani of Kaduna (APC) and Kefas Agbu of Taraba (PDP).
Others are: Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta (PDP), Hyacinth Alia of Benue (APC), Bassey Otu of Cross River (APC), Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi (APC), Sim Fubara of Rivers (PDP), Abba Yusuf of Kano (NNPP) and Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau (PDP).
INEC’s National Commissioner in charge of Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, announced on Monday that the Commission had suspended further collation of governorship election results in some parts of Abia and Enugu states, where thugs reportedly disrupted the election process.
“Arising from the meeting, the Commission took the decision to suspend forthwith further collation of the Governorship election results in some parts of Abia and Enugu States”, he stated, adding that this will allow for a thorough review of results from the affected areas.
In Adamawa State and Kebbi states, the elections have been declared inconclusive. While Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa (PDP) has polled 421,524 votes to maintain a clear lead ahead of his closest rival Aishatu Dahiru (APC), famously known as Binani who has 390, 275 votes, the election was declared inconclusive due to the margin of votes.
The INEC state collation and returning officer, Muhammadu Mele of the University of Maiduguri, said elections were not held in 47 wards, affecting 69 polling units and it is widely believed that Binani, a former senator who is very popular, stands a good chance of becoming Nigeria’s first female Governor.
“So, this gives us a margin of 31,249. The total number of PVCs collected in places where elections were not held amounted to 37,016,” Mele said.
The electoral law provides that where the margin between two candidates is lesser than the total number of collected PVCs in areas where elections were not held, the election is to be declared inconclusive.
As for Kebbi state, the election was declared inconclusive due to overvoting. The state’s collation and returning officer, Yusuf Sa’idu of the Usman Danfodio University, Sokoto, said that the figures of results got from some polling units exceeded the number of accredited voters.
“When we checked the results, the two leading political parties in this contest, APC and PDP, polled 388,258 and 342,980 votes respectively. When we look at the difference, it stands at 45,278,” Sa’idu said.
All the elected Governors have extended open hands of fellowship to lovers and opposition political parties, promising an inclusive government towards the development of their States.