The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kano State has rejected the results of the election validation of the New Nigerian People’s Party (NNPP) Abba Yusuf as governor-elect.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Independent National Electoral Commission has announced that Yusuf is the winner of the election.
Announcing the results in Kano, the state Returning Officer, Prof. Doko Ibrahim, Vice Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, said Yusuf polled 1,019,602 votes to win.
He said the flag bearer beat his nearest rival and state deputy governor, Malam Yusuf Gawuna of APC, who got 892,705 votes.
But reacting to this at a press conference in Kano on Tuesday, the state Chairman of the party, Alhaji Abdullahi Abbas, said the APC would challenge the result.
Abbas, who was represented by the party’s Legal Adviser, Mr. Abdul Adamu Fagge, insisted that the election should be declared inconclusive.
According to him, the annulled votes were greater than the margin between APC and NNPP candidates as provided by the Electoral Act.
The party also drew attention to the cancellation of 16 House of Assembly elections in the state, citing violence as the reason, while the same vote was taken into account when compiling the governorship election.
While expressing his disappointment over the result, he said the two elections were held on the same day, same time, same place and under the same conditions.
On his part, Gawuna commended the loyal members for showing maturity during and after the election.
“We will follow the appropriate legal process to seize our mandate because we are calling the people to live in peace with one another,” he said.
Gawuna said the party has decided to challenge the election results through legal process.
The Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Alhassan Ado Doguwa, said his election was similar to what happened in Kano, but he said the election was uncertain.
Doguwa, said that out of the 13 affected polling units 12 were canceled based on violence and overvoting, and today he has accepted his faith to wait for re-election.