Today, Saturday 15 April, Supplementary elections for governorship, national, and state assembly elections will hold in in 24 states in Nigeria.
Governorship supplementary elections, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), will take place in 69 polling units (PUs) in Adamawa state “comprising 37,706 eligible voters and 142 affected PUs in Kebbi state with 94,209 voters.”
Aishatu Dahiru, popularly known as Binani, the governorship candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Adamawa State, is having a duel with with Ahmadu Fintiri, the incumbent governor and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Fintiri scored 421,524 votes in the 18 March elections, Binani, a former one-term senator who represented Adamawa central senatorial district, polled 390,275. The difference: 31, 249 votes.
The electorate today will decide who between the two will be governor.
In Kebbi state, Professor Yusuf Sa’idu, INEC’s Returning Officer in the governorship election, declared the election inconclusive because of violence, destruction of election materials, disruption of electoral proceedings, and over-voting. With the 18 March election, the APC’s governorship candidate Nasiru Idris, polled 388,258 votes as against the PDP’s Aminu Bande, a retired Major-General who had 342,980 votes.
So, today is a day of final decision in Kebbi.
National Assembly Elections
In Sokoto, supplementary elections will hold in five senatorial seats: Kebbi North, Sokoto East, Sokoto North, Sokoto South, and Zamfara Central.
According to INEC, “in Kebbi North, a total of 13,243 voters in 23 PUs are eligible to participate in the exercise, just as in Sokoto East, there are 87,138 eligible voters in 169 PUs. Sokoto North also has 115,266 eligible voters in 185 PUs, while Sokoto South has 85,022 collected PVCs across 156 Pus; Zamfara Central, has 83 PUs affected, comprising eligible 47,227 voters.”
“Similarly, the House of Representatives polls will be held in a total of 31 constituencies across 15 states, namely Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bayelsa, Ebonyi, Edo, Imo, Jigawa, Kano, Kebbi, Kogi, Oyo, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba, and Zamfara.”
State Assemblies
INEC said in the state House of Assembly elections, “a total of 59 constituencies in 17 states will be involved. They are Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Ebonyi, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Niger, Ogun, Taraba, and Yobe.”
Security
The Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba deployed personnel to 185 Local Government Areas (LGAs) across the 24 states where the supplementary polls will hold. They are to maintain and ensure peace.
It is for this reason that the Police High Command “warned hoodlums and political thugs to stay off polling units, vowing to deal with anyone who planned to disrupt the electoral process.”