Nigeria ruling party stages come-back in controversial state vote

KANO, Nigeria: Nigeria’s ruling party yesterday won the crucial state of Kano in key governorship elections, as the opposition denounced the result, following violence and intimidation that hit the re-run vote.

The sitting governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, had been some 27,000 votes behind when elections at more than 200 polling stations in the northern state were cancelled two weeks ago because of violence.

But after a re-run in the affected areas on Saturday, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate won some 36,000 more votes than his nearest rival.

His overall tally jumped to 1,033,695 – 8,982 more than Abba Kabir Yusuf, of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) – which was enough to secure the win.

The PDP is likely to challenge the result in court, after men wielding machetes, daggers and cudgels invaded several polling stations, according to an AFP reporter at the scene.

Most of the unrest was concentrated in the Gama ward, where more than 40,000 votes were up for grabs.

Armed youths also scared away voters and thumb-printed ballot papers in favour of the APC, voters and party agents said.

The declaration of the result at the local office of the Independent National Electoral Commission was delayed by up to 10 hours, while there was a heavy military presence.

PDP spokesman Sanusi Bature Dawakin-Tofa called the result ‘a gang-up against democracy’ by the APC, INEC and security agencies. — AFP