ABUJA, March 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Nigeria’s ruling party on Sunday won the crucial state of Kano in key governorship elections, as the opposition denounced the result, following violence and intimidation that hit the re-run vote.
The sitting governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, had been some 27,000 votes behind when elections at more than 200 polling stations in the northern state were cancelled two weeks ago because of violence.
But after a re-run in the affected areas on Saturday, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate won some 36,000 more votes than his nearest rival.
His overall tally jumped to 1,033,695 — 8,982 more than Abba Kabir Yusuf, of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) — which was enough to secure the win.
The declaration of the result at the local office of the Independent National Electoral Commission was delayed by up to 10 hours, while there was a heavy military presence.
PDP spokesman Sanusi Bature Dawakin-Tofa called the result “a gang-up against democracy” by the APC, INEC and security agencies.
Kano is Nigeria’s second-most populous state after Lagos in the southwest and is seen as a key electoral prize at the national and state level.
INEC ordered the re-run of governorship elections in six states, because of violence and irregularities on March 9.
The APC governor of central Plateau state, Simon Lalong, won re-election, as did the PDP governor of the northwestern state of Sokoto, Aminu Tambuwal.
But Tambuwal’s margin of victory was just 342 votes.
In central Benue state, Samuel Ortom won re-election for the PDP after switching sides from the APC in protest at Buhari’s handling of violence between farmers and herders.
Results are awaited in the northeastern states of Adamawa and Bauchi, while the collation in the oil-rich southern state of Rivers will resume early next month.
International observers have said the presidential elections were broadly free and fair, despite logistical and security problems. — NNN-AGENCIES
