Allah’s Wish: Kano Residents Pray For Gov Ganduje
Some Kano residents say it is God’s wish that Governor Abdullahi Ganduje has been declared re-elected by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for a second term and have therefore resolved to help him succeed with prayers.
Their decision is coming on the heels of Alhaji Ganduje’s electoral triumph that saw him clawing back from the jaws of death to overcome his main challenger, Abba Kabir-Yusuf of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
According to results announced by the returning officer, Ganduje of the APC won the re-election battle by polling 1,033,695 votes to Kabir-Yusuf’s 1,024,713 votes with a winning margin of 8982 votes after the Saturday, March 23 supplementary elections.
A resident of Rijiyar Zaki quarters in the State, Engineer Ahmad Nafiu, said they would remain prayerful that their choice becomes the best in the overall interest of Kano State.
He explained that INEC was a professional body that might have gone extra miles to achieve what it did, especially with the volatile nature of the state.
Another resident, Malam Musa Abdallah, also said that Muslims were expected to believe in destiny and Ganduje’s should be considered as one.
He prayed that God should guide Governor Ganduje to do his best for the benefit of Kano State and its people.
Also, women are not left out in the good wishes for the re-elected governor as Malama Amina Muhammed, a housewife said though she was neutral about who would win the elections, that there was need to pray for Ganduje now that he had emerged victorious.
She enjoined all residents, including the opposition, to support the Gunduje-led administration in order to build Kano and take it to new heights of glory.
Amina said that “side talks at this moment will not change the situation. Whatever God wills, will surely come to pass; so, let’s not lose our belief.”
NAN reports that on Sunday evening in Kano, INEC declared Governor Ganduje as the winner of the supplementary gubernatorial elections in Kano.
In the re-run poll held in polling units in 28 LGAs, Ganduje got an upper-hand, winning 45,876 votes while the PDP candidate got 10,239 votes.
The Kano Returning Officer, Prof. Bello Shehu, declared Alhaji Ganduje winner of the election having satisfied constitutional requirements by scoring the highest number of votes.
According to Shehu, the winner was declared following final collation of result from all the affected 28 local government areas where the supplementary elections were conducted on Saturday March 23.
The gubernatorial poll was earlier declared inconclusive due to high number of cancelled votes blamed on violence and over-voting. Total number of cancelled votes during the March 9 governorship election stood at 128,572 votes, which was more than the margin of 26,000 votes between the two leading candidates.
The governorship election, which was held two weeks ago, was declared inconclusive by the INEC due largely to irregularities. Before the supplementary poll, the PDP candidate had 1,014,474 votes, while Ganduje got 987,819 votes.
In his reaction, the PDP Chairman in Kano, Alhaji Suleiman Rabiu-Bichi rejected the re-run election, especially that of Gama in Nasarawa Local Government Area.
He described the election processes as shameful and called for the immediate cancellation of the exercise, adding that the PDP will not accept the result which it refused to sign after its agent reportedly walked out of the collation centre before the final announcement of results. – NAN
