Major actors in Saturday’s governorship elections in Adamawa and Kebbi states are set for a battle of sort as voters file out Saturday to vote in the inconclusive polls in the affected states across the country.
As an aftermath of the February 25 and March 18 general elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) scheduled supplementary governorship elections in Adamawa and Kebbi states, five senatorial districts, and 31 federal and 58 state assembly constituencies across the country.
While the poll was declared inconclusive on the margin of votes in Adamawa, INEC will be conducting the exercise in 20 of the 21 local government areas of Kebbi state.
In Adamawa for instance, Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) was in the lead with 421,524, while the All Progressives Congress(APC) candidate, Senator Aishatu Dahiru popularly called Binani, had 390, 275 votes.
The INEC state collation officer, Prof Muhammadu Mele of the University of Maiduguri, had while explaining the commission’s decision said: “Elections were not held in 47 wards, affecting 69 polling units. So, this gives us a margin of 31,249. The total number of PVCs collected in places where elections were not held amounted to 37,016.”
In Kebbi state, all eyes will be on Dr Nasir Idris of the APC and General Mohammed Bande of the PDP.
The decision for a rerun followed the sharp contrast between the number of accredited voters and the votes purportedly cast.
INEC collation officer, Professor Yusuf Sa’idu of the Usman Danfodio University, Sokoto, said there were cancellations of results in different polling units across Registration Areas (RAs) in 20 of the 21 local government areas of the state.
“We aggregated the total number of collected PVCs in those polling units and it came to a total of 91,829.
“And when we checked the results, the two leading political parties in this contest, APC and PDP, polled 388,258 and 342,980 votes respectively. When we looked at the difference, it stands at 45,278,” Sa’idu had said.
APC warns
In the midst of all this, an amalgam of APC support groups under the auspices of the Natives National Movement of Nigeria, comprising all ethnic nationalities in Adamawa state, has called on INEC to play by the rules in Saturday’s governorship rerun in Adamawa state.
The group made their position known Thursday in Yola when they staged a peaceful protest to INEC office to register their support with the commission for being courageous to do the right thing during the March 18 poll.
Speaking during the peaceful protest, national leader of the group, Smart Edward, said they were battle ready to ensure Binani’s victory at the poll.
He expressed concern over the erroneous belief in some quarters and campaign of calumny being carried out against their candidate for being a woman, stressing that “women have equal rights with men and should not be discriminated against but should be judged based on their competence, credibility and records.
“Sen. Aishatu Dahiru Binani has done a lot for the people of Adamawa state and justify the confidence reposed on her in all the elective positions she held and I have no doubt that she will emerge victorious in the election.”
Atiku drums support for PDP
Also, the PDP presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has implored the electorate in all states where rerun would be taking place Saturday to come out in large numbers to cast their ballot for his party.
In a press statement Thursday by his Media Adviser, Paul Ibe, the ex-VP said: “In both Adamawa and Kebbi where supplementary elections shall be held on Saturday, I wish to make a special appeal to the voters in the respective polling units where elections shall be taking place to make sure that the PDP enjoys overwhelming support through their votes.
“It is an established fact that the APC has failed the people of this country and, especially, in Kebbi State, the more reason it is incumbent on the electorate to vote them out and return the PDP.”
Observers caution
Meanwhile, the coalition of the INEC accredited domestic election observers said they have deployed a total number of 138 field observers to monitor the election in 69 polling units across the state where the election will take place.
Speaking at a pre-election press conference Thursday in Yola, the team leader, Comrade Victor Kalu, said they had also sent 15 heads of groups that would be strategically positioned to manage the situation room for effective monitoring and management of the election.
They further called on INEC to ensure timely distribution of election materials and personnel in all the effective polling units for quickest commencement of the election as scheduled.
The team also called for banning of politicians and government functionaries with no business with the election from entering and moving around the areas.
According to him, “elections are not won through distractive back door measures hence the need for politicians and their political parties to play according to the rules of the games and condemned the recent protests against INEC and its leadership in Yola by political parties instead of supporting the commission to deliver on its mandate.”
Kalu also commended INEC for its wonderful preparation for a credible, transparent, free and fair supplementary election in the state by providing level playing field for all participating political parties and candidates to test their popularity at the polls.
He appealed to the good people of Adamawa state to show maturity and put behind them all strings of violence by ensuring that peace reigns during and even after the election, noting that election is not a do-or-die.
