The governorship election in Adamawa State held on March 18 has been deemed invalid by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Senator Aishatu Dahiru, a.k.a. Binani, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the state, received 390,275 votes, while incumbent Governor Ahmadu Fintiri, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, received 421,524.
However, due to the margin of votes, INEC state collation officer Prof. Muhammadu Mele of the University of Maiduguri pronounced the election inconclusive.
He 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.”
Mele said “based on these findings and analysis as stated in the electoral laws” where the margin between two candidates is lesser than the total number of collected PVCs in areas where elections were not held, the election is declared inconclusive.
Twenty governorship polls have had results released thus far. With 14 states, the APC leads the pack, followed by the PDP with five and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) with one. The electoral body similarly pronounced the Kebbi election to be inconclusive, and the collation of the results of the governorship elections in Abia and Enugu was put on hold.
In West Africa’s Nigeria, nine of the 11 governors who ran for reelection in the March 18 elections have officially been declared successful and will serve another four years in office.
They are Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State, Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State, Governor Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State, Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State, Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State and Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State.
Of the 28 states, 11 serving governors sought reelection while 17 outgoing governors are in the final weeks of their constitutional two-term limits of eight years, having been sworn in on May 29, 2015.