APC rejects Kano governorship election result

The party wants the electoral commission, INEC, to declare the March 18 governorship election in the state as inconclusive.

News Agency of Nigeria • March 21, 2023

APC National Chairman, Sen. Abdullahi Adamu

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kano has rejected the result validating the election of the New Nigerian People’s Party’s (NNPP) Abba Yusuf as governor-elect.

On Monday, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Mr Yusuf the winner.

Announcing the result in Kano, the state Returning Officer, Doko Ibrahim, said Mr Yusuf polled 1,019,602 votes to emerge victorious.

He said the flagbearer defeated his closest rival and incumbent deputy governor of the state, Yusuf Gawuna of the APC, who scored 892,705 votes.

But reacting to this at a news conference in Kano on Tuesday, the state chairman of the party, Abdullahi Abbas, said the APC would challenge the result.

Mr Abbas, who the party’s legal adviser represented, Abdul Adamu Fagge, insisted that the election should be declared inconclusive.

According to him, the cancelled votes are greater than the margin between the candidate of APC and NNPP as provided by the Electoral Act.

The party also drew attention to the cancellation of 16 House of Assembly elections in the state, sighting violence as the reason, while the same votes were considered in collating the governorship election.

While expressing dismay over the result, he said the two elections took place the same day, same time, same places and under the same circumstances.

On his part, Mr Gawuna lauded faithful members for demonstrating maturity during and after the election.

“We will follow the due legal process to reclaim our mandate as we call residents to continue to live in peace with one another,” he said.

Mr Gawuna said the party had decided to challenge the outcome of elections through a legal process.

The Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Alhassan Ado Doguwa, said his election was similar to what transpired in Kano, but he has his election declared inconclusive.

Mr Doguwa said that out of the 13 affected polling units, 12 were cancelled based on violence and overvoting, and today he has accepted his faith and is waiting for the rerun of the election.

(NAN)

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