Uncertainty For PDP, SDP As INEC Declares bye-election inconclusive
According to the Collation Officer, Prof Daniel Ayuba, the decision became necessary because the lead margin between the leading candidate and the first runner up is less than the number of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) in the polling units where elections were cancelled.
Ayuba said that while the candidate of the People's Democratic Party PDP, Alhaji Tafida Sadiq, scored a total of 17,214 votes, the candidate of the Social Democratic Party SDP, Mr Innocent Jabayang, who came in as the first runner-up, scored 15,537, putting the difference between the duo at 1,677.
The total number of PVCs collected in cancelled polling units is 14,759.
The affected polling units in Jalingo are Mayo-Gwoi ward PU 007, 006, 034
Majidadi ward PU 024, 018; Turaki A ward PU 004, 003, 006, 010, 020, 031
Barade ward PU 005, 011; Kachalla Sembe ward PU 008, 021.
Polling units affected in Yorro are Kassa B ward PU 001, 005; Pupule C ward PU 010
Sumbu B ward PU 002, 007, 004 and two polling units in Bubong ward in Zing.
"In the current electoral Act, there is a principle which stipulates that, if the margin of victory is less than the total number of collected PVCs in the areas where the election is cancelled, the result cannot be declared and anyone declared returned.
"From the computation that we have done and the results available to us, the margin of victory is less than the total number of collected PVCs in the areas where the election did not hold, or cancelled, which is 14,759.
Consequently, the election is inconclusive, and a rerun would be held in the respective areas between the candidate with the highest votes and the first runner-up."
"In any inconclusive all the political parties that participated in the election would equally participate in the inconclusive rerun election he misrepresented the Law the Law he mentioned is applied only in Run off for presidential and Governorship elections where a leading candidate failed to score 25% in 2/3 of the states or Local Governments as the maybe, while in legislative elections is simply majority votes that are required"
The House of Representatives bye-election to fill the vacant seat of the Jalingo/Yorro/Zing Federal Constituency in Taraba State was marred on Saturday by voters' apathy as voters shunned the election.
Recall that the by-election was as a result of the death of late Ismaila Maihanchi, who had won the February 25, 2023, election for the federal constituency.
In many of the polling units, there were scanty voters sighted, as electoral officials were waiting for voters as of 12.30pm.
This is even as residents of Jalingo and Zing towns complied with the vehicular movement restriction as ordered by the police.
The major contenders in the by-election are Sadiq Abbas of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Aminu Liman of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP), and Aminu Malle of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
No comments