The All Progressives Congress, APC, has won the Kano Municipal and Ungogo State Assembly bye-elections held on Saturday.
In Kano Municipal, the APC candidate, Aliyu Nabil Daneji, polled 7,484 votes to emerge winner. The Returning Officer, Professor Ibrahim Tajo Siraj, declared him elected.
“Aliyu Nabil Daneji of the APC, having satisfied the requirements of the law, is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected,” Siraj said.
Similarly, in Ungogo Constituency, the APC candidate, Aminu Sa’ad Sa’ad, secured 8,975 votes to defeat his closest rival, Shua’ibu Hashimu of the Action Democratic Party, who scored 54 votes.
Professor Ali Tijjani Abdullahi, the Returning Officer, returned Sa’ad elected.
The bye-elections were conducted to fill vacant seats in the Kano State House of Assembly following the death of former lawmakers.
Kano Times reports that major opposition parties, including the New Nigeria Peoples Party, Peoples Democratic Party and African Democratic Congress, were absent from the ballot.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission in Kano State, Abdu Zango, attributed the low voter turnout to the timing of the election and limited party participation.
“First of all, I think the timing, maybe Ramadan. Second, I think the general feeling that this is a very small election involving only two candidates and very few parties,” he said.
Zango described the exercise as peaceful, noting that no security breaches were recorded.
“That they are not participating is entirely the responsibility of the parties. We don’t decide who participates,” he added.
