NNPP clinches Kano Central senatorial seat

Former Governor Ibrahim Shekarau of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) has been proclaimed the victor of the Kano Central senatorial seat by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Shekarau received 456,787 votes, according to INEC Returning Officer Prof. Tijani Darma, who announced the results on Monday in Kano.

He defeated Hajiya Laila Buhari of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), who received 55,237 votes, and Alhaji Abdulkarim Zaura of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who received 168,677 votes.

Soon after the announcement, Shehu Usman, an agent for the NNPP, claimed that INEC had refused to re-elect Shekarau, who had left the party for the PDP.

He lamented that despite a court order directing INEC to accept the name of a fresh candidate, Alhaji Rufai Hanga the commission refused to comply.

Similarly, APC’s agent, Alhaji Yusuf Atta, urged INEC to declare the party’s candidate, Abdulkarim Zaura, who came second as the winner because Shekarau did not participate in the election.

However, INEC Returning Officer, Darma, urged them to report their complaints to INEC and the election tribunal that would be set up.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Hanga did not make the final list of senatorial candidates released by INEC.

The electoral umpire instead published the name of Shekarau as the NNPP candidate, arguing that he has yet to inform the commission officially that he has left the NNPP and was no longer its senatorial candidate.

INEC said until that was done, as required by the electoral act, it could not replace Shekarau’s name. (NAN)