No Winner In Nasarawa State Bye-Election - INEC Declares

Dr Wilfred Uji of the Federal University in Lafia, the capital of Nasarawa state, who was the constituency returning officer of the Saturday, May 28 polls made this known on Sunday, May 29, based on the result of the election in Nasarawa, Nasarawa local government area of the North-central state.

The constituency returning officer justified his decision by citing Section 53 of the Electoral Act, which allows INEC to cancel elections in polling units where voting do not hold. Dr Uji stated: “For Nasarawa/Toto federal constituency, we have a total number of 202,338 registered voters for the election out of which 76,475 were accredited and the total vote cast was 75,826 and we have 74,848 valid votes and the rejected votes stand at 978. “The cancelled votes taken from the vote cast stand at 39,150 and the four political parties that participated at the bye-election scored the following votes, APC scored 46,559; PDP scored 17,068; APGA 11,181 and Labour party (LP) got 40 votes.

“The marginal difference between the APC and PDP is 29,491, and the cancelled votes is 39,150, so the cancelled votes exceeded the marginal difference between APC and PDP as a result of over voting in some polling units of the constituency.

“The marginal difference between the APC and PDP is 29,491, and the cancelled votes is 39,150, so the cancelled votes exceeded the marginal difference between APC and PDP as a result of over voting in some polling units of the constituency.

“Base on the relevant laws guiding the commission, we hereby order for a rerun in the affected polling units on Wednesday, June 1 in order to get a winner and such decision has been taken in the interest of peace,” he said. Likewise, the supervising resident electoral commissioner for the Nasarawa state bye-election, Professor Habu Zarma advised all major players in the election to joun hands with INEC in order to make a peaceful rerun possible.

Prof Zarma said: “The rerun is just serve as a second chance for the electorate to choose a leader of their choice and we hope that a winner will be declared during the rerun election,” While speaking with newsmen, Alhaji Mohammed Musa and Mr Ayuba Wandai, the Sole Administrators of Nasarawa and Toto local government areas of the state,Sole Administrators of Nasarawa and Toto local government areas of the state, respectively, expressed optimism that APC will come victorious during the rerun election.

They called on the supporters of the APC to remain peaceful, law abiding and come out en masse to vote for the party during the rerun election. Reacting on the rerun election, Mr Adamu Abubakar, the APC Returning Agent for the election, said that as a law abiding party, APC has agreed with the decision of the INEC in good faith. READ ALSO: Wike slams INEC, says no valid court order stopping PDP The sole administrators of Nasarawa and Toto local government areas, namely Alhaji Mohammed Musa and Mr Ayuba Wandai, both spoke with journalists on the issue of the bye-election. Both men said they have faith that the All Progressives Congress (APC), which they belong to, will win the rerun polls. Both sole administrators urged all APC supporters to be remain calm and respect the law.

They said that they should ensure to come out in large numbers when the date of the rerun election comes. More so, the APC returning agent for the bye-election, Mr Adamu Abubakar said the APC accepted INEC’s decision in good faith because the party respects the rule of law.

“We are already leading other political parties with a lot of gap and we are optimistic that our great party, APC, will win the rerun election,” Mr Abubakar said. News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) learnt that INEC fixed the bye-election for the Nasarawa/Toto federal constituency for Saturday, May 28 due to the death of Honourable Musa Baba-Onwana, who represented the constituency.

As the INEC boss is trying to make the commission clean, news coming in on Saturday, May 28 indicated that at least 11 officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission confessed receiving bribe during the 2015 general elections in Gombe state.