The Zamfara by-election for the Kaura Namoda South State Constituency has been deemed inconclusive by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Lawal Sa’Adu, a professor at Federal University Gusau and the INEC Returning Officer for the election, stated that the announcement came after some polling places in the Sakajiki and Kambarawa wards canceled their results.
According to Sa’adu, 3,265 Permanent Voter Cards were obtained in the impacted polling places, and 5,446 people were registered to vote overall. He clarified that there was a 1,662 vote difference between the All Progressives Congress’s 7,001 votes and the Peoples Democratic Party’s 5,339 votes.
The electoral umpire declared the election inconclusive based on Sections 24 subsections 2 and 3, 47 subsection 3, and 51 subsection 2 of the Electoral Act 2022. According to the Electoral Act 2022 and the Manual for Election Officials, in places where elections were canceled, a situation like this occurs when the lead between the two front-runners is not greater than the total number of PVCs collected.
He stated that until supplementary elections are held, the Returning Officer will not declare a winner.
The returning officer added that Sakajiki Ward, which had 1,357 registered voters and 1,298 PVCs collected, was one of the two registration areas impacted by the cancellation. The other was Kambarawa Ward, which had 1,964 PVCs collected, 4,088 registered voters, and three impacted polling places.
As a result, Sa’adu declared the election to be inconclusive until a supplementary poll was conducted in the impacted polling places.
He stated that a new date for the rerun election would be announced by INEC in the Sakajiki and Kyambarawa wards’ five impacted polling places.
