The Independent National Electoral Commission has declared Saturday’s governorship election in Taraba state inconclusive.
INEC
Returning Officer for the election, Professor Muhammad Kariey, said
there has to be a supplementary election because the total number of
votes rejected and cancelled were more than the total votes with which
the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Darius Ishaku, led the
runner-up, the All Progressives Congress’ Aisha Al-Hasan.
According
to the returning officer the difference between the PDP and the APC is
54,881, while the rejected votes from some troubled areas are over 100,
000 votes.
He said a supplementary election must be held within 30 days.
PDP had scored a total of 317,198 votes to APC’s 262,386.
Reports say the elections in Donga, Wukari and Zing local governments were cancelled following alleged irregularities.
Similarly; The Returning Officer for Abia State, Prof Benjamin Ozumba, has declared the state governorship election inconclusive.
Ozumba, who spoke in Umuahia, the state capital on Monday, said this
was because the total number of registered voters in areas, where
elections did not hold or where elections were cancelled, was higher
than the margin of difference between the two leading candidates of the
Peoples Democratic Party and the All Progressive GrandAlliance.
The
Taraba governorship election is one of the most keenly contested, and
perhaps the most watched by Nigerians because one of the leading
candidates is a woman.
Nigerians had expected that the election would yield the first female governor in Nigeria’s history.
But
as results of the election from the local government areas trickled
into the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission in
Jalingo, the Taraba State capital, Ms. Al-Hasan, fondly known as Mama
Taraba by supporters, at some points overtook her main challenger, Mr.
Ishaku.
This triggered nationwide celebration by people who thought Ms. Al-Hasan was on her way to becoming the first female governor.
But
after all votes in the election were collated, Ms. Al-Hasan trailed the
PDP candidate by over 50,000 votes, but the electoral body declared the
election inconclusive.
Credit: Austin Ajayi/Premium Times/Emeka Obi/Punch
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