Low voter turnout marked the early hours of Saturday’s bye-elections into two seats of the Kano State House of Assembly.
The polls are being held across 1,014 polling units in 24 registration areas to fill the vacancies created by the deaths of Aminu Sa’ad Ungogo, who represented Ungogo Constituency, and Sarki Aliyu of Kano Municipal Constituency in December 2025.
An estimated 535,000 registered voters are expected to participate in the exercise.
Our correspondent gathered that election materials arrived early at most polling units visited, with officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission on ground before accreditation commenced.
Despite the early deployment of materials, many polling units recorded sparse turnout as of 9am, with only a handful of voters seen waiting to cast their ballots.
Some residents who spoke with our correspondent expressed concern over the low turnout but expressed optimism that more voters would come out later in the day.
Security operatives were sighted at strategic locations across the affected constituencies to maintain law and order.
INEC officials, however, assured that the commission was committed to conducting a free, fair and credible election.
The bye-elections are being closely watched as a contest between the ruling All Progressives Congress and the New Nigeria People’s Party, as well as other political parties participating in the polls.
