The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Zamfara has announced it will conduct a supplementary election in five polling units of the Kaura Namoda South State Assembly constituency on August 21.
The INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr. Mahmmud Isah, made the disclosure during a stakeholders’ meeting in Gusau on Tuesday. Isah said the supplementary election was necessary because the results of the August 16 bye-election in Kyambarawa and Sakajiki registration areas were canceled due to alleged irregularities.
The decision to hold a supplementary poll demonstrates the commission’s commitment to ensuring the credibility of the electoral process and upholding the integrity of the vote in the state.
The INEC Returning Officer, Prof. Lawal Sa’adu of the Federal University, Gusau, said that the commission had registered 5,446 voters in the two areas with 3,265 PVCs collected.
He said the results announced after the cancellation showed that the All Progressives Congress (APC) scored 7,001 votes, while the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) polled 5,339 votes.
Sa’adu explained that the margin between the two leading political parties, APC and PDP was 1,662, which he said, was less than the 3,265 of PVCs collected in the affected polling units.
The electoral umpire sited Sections 24 sub section 2 & 3, section 47 sub section 3 and section 51 sub section 2 of the Electoral Act 2022 as reasons for declaring the election inconclusive.
