BY VICTOR BUORO – Typical of its assurances ahead of all past elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says all is set for a smooth and hitch-free supplementary elections holding on Saturday, April 15, 2023 in Adamawa, Kebbi, and other states of the Federation.
Media reports quote the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC chairman, Mr Rotimi Oyekanmi, as promising in Abuja that everything is being put in place for the election to hold as scheduled.
According to him, nothing has changed since then and the Commission is fully ready to perform its constitutional role of delivering a free and fair process come April 15.
Aiming to put a final seal on the conduct of the 2023 general elections, INEC decided that “all outstanding Governorship, National and State Assembly supplementary elections will take place on Saturday 15th April 2023.”
Particularly prominent in the Supplementary elections are Kebbi and Adamawa states, where the 18th March 2023 governorship polls were declared inconclusive by the Commission which thereafter fixed the re-run elections for some specific polling units in both states.
Quite unexpectedly, the INEC Returning Officers had declared all the National Assembly seats in Sokoto state inconclusive after the 25 February elections.
In Adamawa State, the epic battle is between incumbent Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Senator Aisha Ahmed Binani of All Progressives Congress (APC)
Governor Fintiri is going into April 15 rerun with 421,524 votes while Senator Aisha Binani will be participating in the contest with 390,375 votes that both of them got during the initial March 18 gubernatorial election in the State.
For Kebbi State, the two leading political parties and their candidates are going for the make or mar contest on Saturday. As it stands now, the governorship candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Nasir Idris, has a score of 388,358 votes, while his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counterpart, Mohammed Bande polled a total of 342,980 votes.
By the electoral umpire’s submission, the difference stands of 45,278 votes is less than 91, 829 collected PVCs in the affected areas, which led to the election being declared inconclusive.
The affected councils, where there would be rerun elections in some polling units in Kebbi State are Jega, Gwandu, Koko Besse, Kalgo, Dandi, Maiyama and Sakaba
