Leadership (Abuja)
28 April 2011
Against expectations of serious opposition challenge during the gubernatorial election, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has won several states in the northern part of the country and regained control of Kano State, a hitherto All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) stronghold.
The PDP won in Kebbi, Katsina, Kano, Kwara and Jigawa states, while the opposition ANPP retained control of Borno and Yobe states.
The Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) perceived as a major challenger to the PDP has so far won only Nasarawa State in the North central zone.
Meanwhile, in the South-West zone, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) swept Ogun and Oyo states and retained control of Lagos State, now a traditional stronghold of the party.
In the South-East, the PDP won Enugu and Ebonyi states and is expected to retain control of Abia state.
The PDP also posted resounding victories in Rivers and Akwa-Ibom states in the South-South zone of the country.
Details of the result at press time are as follows:
Kebbi
Gov. Saidu Dakingari of Kebbi, who stood for a re-election on the platform of PDP, has been declared winner of Tuesday’s governorship election in the state.
The chief returning officer for the state’s governorship election, Prof. Sani Dangoggo, who is also the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic), Usman Dafodio University, Sokoto, said on Wednesday in Birnin Kebbi that Dakingari won by 559,424 votes.
Security chiefs in Kaduna (file photo): Stringent measures were in place across Nigeria as voters in 25 states went to the polls to elect governors and members of state legislatures.
Dangoggo said that the PDP candidate also secured 25 per cent of the total votes in two thirds of the 21 local government areas of Kebbi.
He said the CPC candidate, Alhaji Abubakar Mallam, came second with 326,482 votes while Alhaji Kabiru Tanimu of the ACN came third with 67,710 votes.
The ANPP candidate, Alhaji Abubakar Argungu, got 1,801 votes, NTP 2,849 and CPP 1,168 votes.
Katsina
Gov Shema of Katsina State was declared winner of the gubernatorial elections yesterday. Shema of PDP polled a total of 1,027,912 votes to beat CPC’s Bello Masari, who polled 555,769 votes. The ACN candidate scored 19,990 to come third while Labour Party (LP) candidate got 1,146.
Shema’s victory is generating controversy as Katsina is viewed as the CPC stronghold, since the presidential flagbearer of the party, Gen Muhammadu Buhari hails from there.
In a live broadcast after the announcement of the result, governor Shema thanked the people of Katsina state, especially the teeming supporters of PDP.
Niger
Five persons have been arrested by the men of Niger state police command for various electoral offences in Tuesday’s governorship and house of assembly elections in the state as Governor Aliyu lead in result of 18 out of the twenty five local governments so far released.
The arrest were made in Suleja, Paikoro, and Gurara Local government Areas while the accused was allegedly trying to snatch ballot boxes, cause incitement at polling unit. They were also accused of impersonation and attempted homicide.
The police public relation officer Richard Adamu Oguche who disclosed this to journalists yesterday stated that one person was arrested at Paiko while trying to snatch ballot boxes and attempted to set ablaze an octogenarian who kicked against him touching the ballot box in one of the polling units.
Oguche explained that the youth arrested was one of the five- man gang of hoodlums in Paikoro who specialised in snatching ballot boxes saying that the boy arrested was the kingpin while the other four members have fled.
Meanwhile early result of the gubernatorial election released by the Independent National Electoral Commission indicated that Governor Muazu Babangida Aliyu is leading in 18 local government areas of the state so far released.
Jigawa
Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa state won his second term bid at the just concluded gubernatorial election in the state.
Alhaji Sule Lamido who contested under the platform of the People Democratic Party emerged winner of the election by scoring 676,307 votes out of the total 1,094,549 valid votes cast during the election.
Other candidates who contested the election under their respective political parties include: Alhaji Badaru Abubakar of Action Congress for Nigeria (ACN) scored 343,177 and Faruku Adamu Aliyu of Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) who scored 56,911.
Also ANPP scored 12,124, APGA 842, APS 808, NPPP 634 NRP 2,540, and ADC which scored 1,206
Kwara
Alhaji AbduFatah Ahmed of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was yesterday declared winner of the governorship election in Kwara state.
Ahmed, a former commissioner of finance in the state polled 254,969 votes to beat his archrivals, Mohammed Dele Belgore of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) who scored 152,580 votes and Senator Gbemisola Saraki of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN), who also polled 72,456 votes.
The PDP also won 22 out the 24 seats in the state House of Assembly leaving the remaining two for the ACN.
The emergence of Ahmed as the next governor of the ‘State of harmony’ has confirmed Governor Bukola Saraki as the new political leader of the state.
Governor Saraki had championed the course for the rotation of the state governorship seat which eventually earned Ahmed from Kwara South Senatorial District the gubernatorial ticket of the PDP.
The Kwara central where Saraki hails from had occupied the state number one political office for twelve years running.
Similarly, the outcome of the governorship election the state might have also brought to an end the robust political career of the Second Republic Senate Leader, Dr Olusola Saraki who had been in firm control of the political affairs of Kwara for 47 years.
This is because the elder Saraki’s sponsored ACPN candidate failed woefully in the just concluded general election. The party neither won a seat in the National Assembly elections nor in the 24-member state House of Assembly.
Nasarawa
Gov. Aliyu Akwe-Doma of Nasarawa State failed to retain his seat as he lost to the candidate of the CPC, Alhaji Tanko Al-makura with 3,885 votes.
Announcing the result Wednesday at the INEC state headquarters in Lafia, the Returning Officer for Nasarawa State, Alhaji Murktar Mohammed declared Alhaji Tanko Al-Makura of CPC as winner.
Al-Makura polled a total of 324,823 out of the 691,619 votes cast in the election, while Doma of the PDP polled 320,938 to emerge second.
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Ruling Party Shocks North in Governors’ Elections