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Tag: Ganduje

  • Ganduje and Kano Emirate

    AMONG the many reasons adduced by Governor Abdullahi Ganduje for splitting Kano Emirate into five, two appear noteworthy. He says the emirate, as previously constituted and presided over by Emir Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, was too unwieldy; and secondly, that splitting the emirate will bring development. He swears that the reconstitution of Kano Emirate has come to stay, and that no judicial intervention could nullify it. It remains to be seen whether the courts can reverse the balkanisation. He has embarked on the changes in the emirates at the beginning of his second term. If he carries his second term to the end, no one can be sure that four years of running the new emirates would not prove impossible to reconstitute once again into one big emirate.

    Governor Ganduje’s argument about the size of the pre-split Kano Emirate is worthy of note. It is truly huge, constituting about 40 local governments. But if the people of Kano are content to keep it so big, who is the governor to complain? Did the people complain? Are they not psychologically satisfied that it is as big as the Sokoto Emirate, with which they have sometimes compared their emirate? If indeed the people of Kano Emirate want the emirate balkanised, then the split will endure. Otherwise, sometime in the future, the emirates could be reunited again, as indeed it was done under the Bakin Zuwo governorship in 1983 after a former governor, Abubakar Rimi, split it.

    The governor also premised the split on the need to hasten the development of the new emirates. This reason is of course puzzling. Emirates neither control nor execute developmental votes. That responsibility is the state’s and local government’s. If anything, and as they will soon find out, the new emirates will cost the system a pretty penny in terms of emirate upkeep. The governor has struggled to prove that the changes are not targeted at Emir Sanusi, with whom he has been at daggers drawn. Indeed, few are convinced that the governor has acted altruistically. And despite the emir’s protestations, fewer still are persuaded that he has himself not flagrantly courted disaster when he should have been more restrained and diplomatic in his interventions.

    If the courts can manage to act independently, the outcome may yet be different. The public will, however, have to wait and see. But if not, the final solution may yet revert to politics. But it will not be under Governor Ganduje.

  • SERAP to Ganduje: reject fat pensions, luxury cars for life for Kano lawmakers

    THE Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged Kano State Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje to reject a bill for life pensions and brand new vehicles recently passed by lawmakers of the State House of Assembly.

    The organisation urged the governor to prevail on the members to immediately drop the bill, and to honour their fiduciary duties imposed by the Constitution of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and Nigeria’s international anti-corruption obligations.

    SERAP said it would take legal action nationally and internationally against the state government should the governor assent to the bill already passed by the lawmakers.

    SERAP said it would resort to legal action to hold his government to account and ensure that “you uphold the solemn trust committed to you by the people of Kano”.

    The request was contained in an open letter sent to the governor dated May 10, 2019 and signed by SERAP Deputy Director Kolawole Oluwadare.

    The organisation urged Ganduje to “prevail on the lawmakers to subordinate their own interests to the public good, live on fair and equal terms with their fellow-citizens and not to use their legislative powers to convert public resources to their own benefit”.

  • Alaafin of Oyo congratulates Ganduje over victory

    The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi has congratulated the  Governor of Kano State, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje over his victory in the just concluded gubernatorial election in the state.

    He described Ganduje as a warrior who has brought development to his people.

    Oba Adeyemi, who sent a high powered delegation to the governor, under the leadership of Asiwaju Abayomi, who met him at the Governor’s Lodge, Asokoro, Abuja, commended Ganduje for being receptive and highly disciplined politician, who believes that political rivalry simply means difference in political approach.

    “We are here as a high powered delegation to our in-law, a highly detribalised leader, whose zeal in the development of the country is unassuming. We are here to purposely congratulate your excellency over your victory in the just concluded governorship election in Kano State,” Abayomi said.

    Adding that governor’s victory means a lot in explaining to the public how dear and cheerful the governor is to Kano people. “If you are not doing well for the development of the state, they wouldn’t have re-elected you for the second term. But with this re-election, it is clear to all that Dr Abdullahi Ganduje is doing well in his domain.”

    He further hinted that, His Majesty, the Oba wanted to be physically around for the congratulatory visit, but other pressing issues cropped up, which necessitated for sending of the delegation.

    In his response, the governor appreciated the royal message from His Majesty, the Alaafin, assuring that, “I will continue with the good work to my people as you identify, while you are coming from far away Oyo State. I am happy that, you are getting correct information concerning our developmental projects and policies.”

  • Ganduje receives Certificate of Return, pledges better future for Kano

    The lndependent National Electoral Commission ( INEC ) on Wednesday issued certificate of return to Kano state Governor-elect Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, his deputy Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna and 27 elected state Lawmakers of APC.

    To this end, 13 state lawmakers-elect of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP boycotted the presentation ceremony held at the indoor sports hall of Sani Abacha stadium.

    Presenting the certificate of returns to the elected officers, the INEC national commissioner supervising Kano, Katsina and Jigawa states, Engr. Abubakar Nahuce urged political class in the country to always imbibe the spirit of sportsmanship and eschew a do-die politics.

    Nahuce, who congratulated the elected officers across the two political parties cautioned the winners to be magnanimous in their celebration.

    According to him, no human blood is worth shedding for the victory of any politician noting that INEC had conducted free and fair elections both at the presidential, national assembly and state levels.

    In his remarks, Governor of Kano, Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje said that his administration will remain focused on human development policies anchor on improved quality of education, socioeconomic growth, boost agricultural system and making Kano investment destination.

    Rolling out his agender for the next for years, Ganduje said “We must ensure that all our young people receive quality education. We must ensure all our girls are educated, so we can unlock the 50% of economic output currently not being accessed by our society due to the low participation of women”.

    According to him, “Our future does not lie on oil or any of the things we currently fight about. Our future cannot be built with handouts or dependency. Our future lies in the minds of our people.

    “Our heroes of the past have shown that it is possible to develop sustainably and self sufficiently. This is how we know that building a sustainable future is possible. In order to access that future, we must develop the minds of our people.

    “Our future lies in providing 21st-century knowledge and resources to our young people, so they can lead the development of a modern Kano State”.

    Ganduje added that “We must also make sure that our state becomes an attractive destination for investment and business, with a focus on the investments which improve our human capacity.

    “Agriculture is already the mainstay of our people – our plan is to attract investment which increases our outputs and unlock economic growth for all of us. We cannot wait until, May 29 to welcome this new future. The future begins now, today.”

    He revealed that, “Over the next few weeks, I will be unveiling a series of plans to ensure every child from Kano receives quality education, including computer and technology education, to ensure that in 15 years, Kano is the most educated state in sub-saharan Africa, and the most attractive destination for the world’s leading technology-driven businesses.

    Read Also: We’re ready for PDP in court , says Ganduje

    “Our government cannot do this alone. We will also unveil extensive plans and incentives for partners and private investors to come build businesses in Kano. If you want to set up innovative businesses or educational institutions, Kano is waiting to welcome you.

    “We will also unveil a plan to partner with our local communities to ensure even the poorest of our communities have access to schools to educate their children to make sure we all grow together.

    “Whether you are rich, middle class, or in our most local locations, Kano will welcome you and together build a collective wealth of the future. I call on every citizen of Kano State, every resident and supporter, the time to build the future is now. Let us do this together”. Ganduje concluded.

  • Breaking: Ganduje, APC Lawmakers receive Certificates of Return

    The lndependent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Wednesday presented certificates of return to Kano state Governor-elect Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, his deputy Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna and 27 elected members.

    However, 13 members of the assembly elected under the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were conspicuously absent during the ceremony held at the indoor sports hall of Sani Abacha stadium.

    Read Also: We’re ready for PDP in court , says Ganduje

    Presenting the certificates of return to the elected officers, the INEC national commissioner in charge of Kano, Katsina and Jigawa states, Engr. Abubakar Nahuche urged political class in the country to always imbibe spirit of sportsmanship and eschew a do-or-die politics.

    He, however, congratulated the winners and said the outcome of the election was a true reflection of democracy saying Nigerian democracy has significantly developed.

    Details shortly…

  • We’re ready for PDP in court , says Ganduje

    Kano State Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje said yesterday he is ever ready to face the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), which vowed to challenge his victory at the just concluded governorship election in court.

    He spoke at Ganduje town in Dawakin Tofa Local Government, when he was  receiving thousands of supporters who trooped to congratulate him over his reelection.

    The governor said: “Before the rerun election, which we emerged victorious, they were deep-neck in ballot stuffing and other electoral offences, a ploy that was later uncovered.”

    Ganduje said it was after that ballot stuffing scenario that a genuine election was conducted at the supplementary election “in which a genuine result emerged in a free, fair and credible election”.

    “My thinking about these people is that they are about to kick-start what would later consume them. What they did in other elections of the state legislators in some places will be looked at, with the view to ascertaining authenticity of such votes they claimed to have gotten,” Ganduje said.

    Assuring that his second term in office would build on the good work he has done, he said: “Whoever comes to Kano will attest to the fact that Kano is fast growing and developing. We will improve on this and will, at the same time, consolidate the feats achieved.”

    The governor hailed those that trooped to congratulate him and his government over the victory and assured them that, his regime would continue to make Kano one of the safest states in the country.

    “We are thanking those who voted for us, those who didn’t vote for us and those who didn’t even vote at all,” he said.

    Ganduje, in a statement, has assured that he would not betray the people of the state who have once again entrusted him with the enormous responsibility of governing their affairs.

    He also assured that no one would be harassed or intimidated in the course of governing the state.

    The statement signed by the Commissioner for Information, Youth and Culture, Malam Muhammad Garba, quoted the governor as saying that his administration has no intention of labeling anybody in the public or private domain.

    “We have no intention whatsoever to intimidate anybody be it civil servant or private citizen. Elections are associated with heated debate on political differences, but they are over and we have a big task of working together because Kano belongs to all of us,” the statement said.

    He said the governor’s victory at the polls belongs to all the people regardless of political differences and therefore, “together we work to move the state forward”.

  • Ganduje: my victory down to hard work, not violence

    Kano State Governor Umar Ganduje of has reaffirmed his victory at the Kano supplementary elections was as a result of hard work by his team as against violence cited in many quarters.

    Ganduje, who contested under the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), spoke when chairmen of the 44 local government areas of the state paid him a congratulatory and solidarity at the Government House, Kano

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Ganduje winner of the rerun polls against his opponent Abba K. Yusuf of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    “It was not breach of peace that gave (me) the victory but hard work and prayers. We prayed and we worked hard. Peace is paramount,” he said.

    Ganduje urged supporters of the APC not to engage in any form of violence or intimidation of the opposition in the course of their jubilation, saying his government and party are not in conflict with the opposition.

    “We want peace and peace must be given a chance to thrive. We will come up with new strategy in governance. All as an effort to consolidate this victory and continue with the good things we started.

    “We will continue to do what our people voted us for. That is to further develop all structures of the society.

    “This victory shows that Kano people repose confidence in us since from day one. We will, therefore, not let them down,” Ganduje added.

    He also said he would work with other opposition groups that supported him before the elections.

    “We have other opposition parties that came and worked with us before this election. For the development of our state, we are planning to work with them,” he stated.

  • Ortom, Lalong, Ganduje, Tambuwal win elections

    GOVERNORS Samuel Ortom (Benue), Simon Lalong (Plateau), Umar Ganduje (Kano) and Aminu Tambuwal (Sokoto) have retained their seats after the collation of Saturday’s supplementary polls.

    But their challengers – Emmanuel Jime (Benue), Jeremiah Useni (Plateau), Aliyu Sokoto (Sokoto) and Abba Yusuf (Kano), have rejected the results as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) at the close of the second ballot yesterday.

    They plan to seek judicial redress.

    Ortom of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) polled 434,473 to defeat his All Progressives Congress (APC) challenger Jime, who scored 345,155; incumbent Plateau helmsman and APC candidate Lalong beat his PDP challenger Useni and Tambuwal of the PDP scored 512, 002 to beat APC’s Sokoto, who polled 511,660.

    The INEC had declared elections inconclusive in six states as there were no clear winners on the first ballot on March 9.

    The states are: Adamawa, Benue, Bauchi, Kano, Plateau and Sokoto. The commission fixed March 23 for makeup polls but a court barred the electoral umpire from going ahead in Adamawa and in Bauchi’s Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area.

    An Abuja Federal Court will today rule on INEC’s application to vacate an ex parte order barring it from conducting supplementary poll in Tafawa Belewa Council Area.

    Also tomorrow in Adamawa, a High Court will rule in an objection suit filed INEC against order obtained by Movement for the Restoration and Defence of Democracy (MRDD) governorship candidate Rev. Eric Theman, challenging the exclusion of his name of the ballot paper.

    Tambuwal, was returned after a keen contest with a lead margin of 342 votes.

    In the earlier results before the makeup poll, Tambuwal had 489,558 votes, leading with 3,413 as against APC’s Sokoto’s 486,145.

    Declaring the results in Sokoto yesterday at the Sultan Muhammadu Maccido Institute for Quranic and General Studies, venue of the collation, the Returning Officer and Vice Chancellor of the Jigawa State University, Dutse, Prof Fatima Batulli Mukhtar, said the APC got 25,515 and the PDP scored 22, 444 from the 22 local government areas where the makeup was conducted.

    According to Mukhtar, 50, 332 of the 95,022 registered voters were accredited. Those whose votes were valid were 48,309 and 1,580 were rejected.

    Merging the final results, the Returning Officer said the  PDP scored 512,000; APC returned 511,660 votes with a total registered voters of 1,887,767 and 1,083,413 accredited for the exercise.

    Prof Mukhtar also gave the valid votes as 1,036,336 with 31,662 as rejected votes while 1,067,990  represented total votes cast.

    He said: “That Aminu Waziri Tambuwal having satisfied the electoral requirements and returned the highest votes is hereby declared winner of the Sokoto state governorship election.”

    In a swift reaction to the declaration, APC agent and campaign Director-General, Alhaji Muhammadu Maigari Dingyadi, objected to the presentation of the results from Kebbe Local Government Area on two issues – malfunctioning Smart Card Reader and non-conduct of the exercise in some polling units. He urged INEC to look into his observations.

    Maigari said: “We strongly object the result from Kebbe and call on the electoral umpire to do the needful.”

    The electoral body noted the observations and complaints raised by the APC, saying that it will be in its record for possible attention.

    PDP supporters and well-wishers took to the streets to celebrate the victory.

    BENUE

    After days of intense suspense, emotional and psychological torture among the Benue populace, INEC yesterday returned Ortom as winner of the supplementary governorship poll.

    The election was declared inconclusive because the number of votes cancelled in areas where elections were disrupted was more than the margin of lead by Ortom after the March 9 governorship election.

    State Collation Officer Prof. Sebastine Maimako, Vice Chancellor, University of Jos, announced Ortom as winner having satisfied the requirements stipulated in the Electoral Act and guidelines for the declaration of winner of the election.

    The final statistics as announced by Maimako showed that 858,947 of the 2,471,894 registered voters were accredited for the election.

    The valid votes were 830,954; rejected votes (15,268) and the valid votes were 846,222.

    PLATEAU

    The INEC declared Lalong as winner of the election.

    The governor was declared the winner by the Returning Officer, Prof Richard Anande Kimbir, Vice Chancellor of the University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Benue State.

    Announcing the final results, Prof Kimbir said, Simon Lalong of the APC polled 595, 582 votes to beat Useni of the PDP, who scored 546, 813.

    “I hereby declare Simon Lalong of APC returned as governor of Plateau State, having polled the highest numbers of votes in the state’s governorship election,” the returning officer said.

    Results of the supplementary election held in nine local government areas, including Langtang South, Barkin Ladi, Bassa, Bokkos, Jos North, Kanam, Mangu,  shendam and Pankshin, showed that Lalong scored 12,327 new votes. The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Jeremiah Useni, earned 8,487.

    The result of the supplementary was, therefore, added to that of the main election before it was announced.

    BAUCHI

    In Bauchi State, the PDP candidate Senator Bala was leading incumbent Governor Mohammed Abubakar of the APC in the supplementary governorship election conducted in 36 Polling Units (PUs), covering 29 Registration Areas (Wards) in 15 local government areas.

    The makeup poll did not hold in the Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area, owing to a court order.

    Mohammed garnered 6376 votes against Abubakar’s 5117 votes on Saturday. He was leading the incumbent with 1259 between both parties.

    The result was announced in Bauchi  yesterday by the Returning Officer, Prof. Mohammed Kyari, Vice Chancellor of the Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola.

    At the close of the ballot on March 9, Mohammed had 469,512 votes. Abubakar had 465,453. The 4059 lead margin prompted INEC to declare the poll inconclusive after a Federal High Court in Abuja halted the collation and announcement of results for the Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area.

    Abubakar got a court injunction restraining INEC from continuing with the collation and announcement of election results. Judgment will be delivered today.

    The total votes scored so far  by Mohammed in the 19 out of the 20 council areas has increased to 475,888. Abubakar’s stands at 470, 570 votes.  The difference is 5,318 votes.

    The PDP yesterday urged the governor to concede defeat and work together with the party for the progress of the state.

    Speaking in a telephone interview with The Nation, PDP Chairman, Hamza Koshe Akuyam said the “right thing for the governor to do is to surrender in the face of an imminent defeat”.

    Mohammed has expressed gratitude to the people for their support.

    He said: “We owe our victory to the people of Bauchi who have stood very firm on the threshold of freedom and liberty and have shown that they are the icons of democracy and liberty. Words alone cannot express my appreciation to them all.”

    The former FCT minister addressed a news conference at the Command Guest House in Bauchi immediately the results of the election were announced.

    KANO

    Incumbent Governor Umar Ganduje of the APC was last night declared winner of the makeup governorship election Kano State.

    Declaring the winner of the poll, Collation Officer Prof. Bello Shehu said that after merging the final results, the APC candidate polled 1,033,695, while his challenger Abba Yusuf of the PDP scored 1,024,713 votes.

    He said that 2,268,305 of the 5,426,989 registered were accredited. The valid votes cast stood at 2,199,535 and 50,861 were rejected.  Those who cast their ballot were 2,242,396.

    He added that the APC candidate defeated his opponent with 8,982 votes.

    According to Shehu, the winner was declared after the collation of results from all the 28 affected Local government areas where the supplementary elections held on Saturday.

    He said: “That Abdullahi Umar Ganduje having satisfied the recuirment of the law, has scored the highest votes, is hereby declared winner and returned elected.”

    The collation officer said that the governorship election was earlier declared inconclusive following the high number of cancellation of votes as a result of violence and over voting.

    According to him, the total number of votes cancelled during March 9 election was more that the margin between the PDP candidate, who was leading with 26,000 votes and that of the APC candidate.

    Yusuf was earlier declared to have 1,014,474, against the APC candidate Gov Ganduje who garned 987,819 votes.

    The votes cancelled during the first ballot were 128,572 and the collation officer said the electoral act stipulates that such election must be declared inconclusive.

    The PDP agent, who is also the party chairman in the state, Suleiman Rabiu Bichi frowned at the conduct and rejected the entire supplementary election process, especially that of Gama in Nassarawa Local Government Area.

    His APC counterpart, Abdullahi Abbas, described the election as another landmark victory for the APC, adding that the era of politicking is over.

    “Our doors are wide open to embrace the PDP for a better governance”, the APC chair said.

  • Rerun polls: Tambuwal, Aliyu, Ganduje,Yusuf, others locked in fierce battle

    After the March 9 governorship elections across the country, the polls in six states – Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Kano, Plateau and Sokoto – were declared inconclusive. In this analysis, Deputy Political Editor RAYMOND MORDI who has been monitoring the situation writes on how the elections in five states will be fought and won. In Adamawa, the governorship rerun is on hold following a court order; the supplementary poll holds today only in two constituencies for state assembly.

    THE two major parties, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) resorted to a war of words when the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the recent governorship elections in six states inconclusive and announced later that it would conduct supplementary polls in five of the affected states today. The governorship rerun will not hold today in Adamawa because of a court order barring INEC. It will, however, hold in two constituencies for the state assembly.

    Both conventional and social media are awash with last ditch efforts by the affected parties to get an upper hand in today’s supplementary elections. The two parties have been busy with fresh campaigns, establishing alliances and heading to the courts, to secure injunctions to stop the election.

    Curiously, it is first-term governors from either the APC or the PDP that are facing serious challenge in the states where elections are scheduled to hold. The following is how the supplementary election battle in each of the states would be fought and won.

    BAUCHI

    The back and forth movement over today’s supplementary election in some polling units Bauchi State was eventually settled on Thursday, with INEC saying it will go ahead with the exercise.

    The Bauchi State governorship election was declared inconclusive, follow ing irregularities in some polling units across 15 local government areas.

    The INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Bauchi, Ibrahim Abdullahi, said today’s supplementary elections are due to be held in 36 polling units in 15 local government areas. There are 22,759 registered voters in the affected 36 polling units where the supplementary elections will be taking place today.

    In the results released so far, the PDP candidate, Bala Mohammed, is leading with 4,059 votes; having scored 469,512 votes, against 465,453 votes polled by the incumbent Governor Mohammed Abubakar of the APC.

    Results from Tafawa Balewa local government are also in dispute, after thugs attacked the local government collation centre and disrupted the collation of results.

    INEC had decided to resume the collation of results in the council, but a court ruling has  suspended the exercise in the local government, which is regarded as a stronghold of the PDP. So, the local government is not part of today’s supplementary elections.

    INEC had indicated that it would resume the collation of results of the disputed Tafawa Balewa Local Government after considering a report submitted by the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Bauchi. But it had to stay action on the matter, following the court injunction. The PDP insists that the initial cancellation of the result from the local government was illegal because the returning officer did not have the power to cancel the results already collated. The party said since there were no reports of violent clashes and disruptions of voting at the polling units,  which was the only ground for the cancellation of results, the returning officer acted outside his power by rejecting the result from the council. The PDP on Thursday threatened to boycott today’s supplementary elections on the grounds that INEC has allegedly compromised the process by acceding to the demands of the ruling APC.

    It had also appointed a new collation/returning officer to conclude the collation process, after Mrs Dominion Anosike withdrew over alleged threats to her life and her family. But the decision of the electoral body was rejected by the APC.

    PDP chairman, Hamza Akuyam, said no supplementary elections should take place until the full governorship election results collation, which ended with Tafawa Balewa local government, are announced.

    He said: “Doing otherwise will be synonymous with writing a reseat examination while the main examination has not been marked.” He accused the REC in Bauchi of deliberately keeping everybody waiting at the collation centre until around 2pm when he abruptly surfaced with a court injunction halting the collation exercise.

    With the current state of affairs, the PDP is in pole position to win the election. Apart from the fact that it is leading with 4,059 votes, the results from Tafawa Balewa Local Government, which is a stronghold of the party is still outstanding. At the end of the day, the opposition party is likely to carry the day.

    BENUE

    In Benue State, with the margin between Governor Samuel Ortom of the PDP and his APC counterpart, Emmanuel Jime, INEC is conducting today’s election to fulfill all righteousness, because it is obvious that PDP has an unassailable lead.

    The supplementary election will be conducted in almost all the 23 local government areas with about 121,091 votes at stake. After the March 9 election, the PDP was leading 81,554 votes. The party polled 420,576 votes, while its closest challenger, the APC, scored 329,022. INEC had to declare the election inconclusive, because cancelled votes -121,091 — were higher than the margin between the two top candidates.

    Governor Ortom is likely to emerge victorious at the end of today’s exercise, because it will be difficult to have a 100 per cent turnout and the APC getting enough votes to cancel the PDP’s lead. The two leading political parties have been wooing voters ahead of today’s election.

    The PDP had insisted that Ortom won the election and that he should be declared winner of the election.

    KANO

    Today’s supplementary election in Kano State is a battle between former Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso and incumbent Governor Abdullahi Ganduje. The election is likely to determine the political future of the two gladiators. The two politicians were allies from 1999 when they were elected as governor and deputy governor respectively, up to 2015 when the former nominated the latter to succeed him as the state governor.

    But, less than two years after the election that brought Ganduje to power, his relationship with his former boss became sour and this finally led to the defection of Kwankwaso to the PDP.

    Ganduje is seeking re-election to complete a second tenure as governor, while the ‘PDP candidate, Abba Kabir Yusuf, is contesting governorship for the first time.

    This is where the real contest is. Although the PDP occupies the high ground in this contest, its lead is not enough to guarantee that it would triumph at the end of the day. The final outcome would be determined by the electors who will come out to cast their ballot today.  In the results declared so far, the PDP flag bearer leads the incumbent governor with 26,000 votes, while the votes at stake in the 172 polling units where the supplementary election is taking place are 128,572.

    The March 9 governorship election was cancelled in the affected units due to disturbances over voting and nonusage of the Card Reader machines.

    The declaration of the election as inconclusive is in accordance with section 26 of the INEC Act, because the number of cancelled votes is beyond the margin between the candidate with the highest votes and the one that came second.

    In the results released so far, the PDP candidate scored 1,014,474, while the APC had 987,819 votes.

    There is no telling who will emerge victorious at the end of the day, given the number of registered voters in the area where results were cancelled.

    Nevertheless, the PDP candidate appears to have an upper hand, with the 26,000 votes advantage he enjoys going into today’s supplementary election.

    PLATEAU

    In the case of Plateau State, today’s supplementary election may turn out to be a mere formality. Incumbent Governor Simon Lalong, who is the APC candidate, is in pole position to secure his re-election.

    While the supplementary elections in Adamawa, Bauchi and Benue seem set to go PDP way, the APC has similarly secured acomfortable lead in Plateau State.

    Other things being equal, the incumbent, Simon Lalong, seems ready to clinch a second term in office.

    So far, in the declared election result, Lalong polled 583,255 votes, while Jeremiah Useni of the PDP secured 538,326 votes. With a margin 44,929 between the two contestants and 49,377 cancelled votes, today’s election is a mere formality.

    Observers say the supplementary election is needless and a mere waste of time and resources because it will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for Useni to come from far behind to level up the margin and beat Lalong. They say the odds weigh heavily to the point of impossibility against the PDP candidate, for him to defeat the APC candidate.

     

    SOKOTO

    In Sokoto, the PDP candidate, Alhaji Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, is clinging to a narrow lead ahead of his APC counterpart, Alhaji Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto. Tambuwal leads with 3,413 votes, having scored 489,558 votes, against his APC counterparts 486,090 votes.

    A winner could not be declared since the cancelled votes were more than the margin between the winner and the runner off. The number of registered voters in the area where results were cancelled are 75, 403, whereas Tambuwal is leading his APC counterpart with 3, 413 votes.

    Sokoto is another electoral contest that is too close to call. After defecting to the PDP to pursue his presidential ambition, Tambuwal lost some of his local support, especially that of the defacto godfather of Sokoto politics and a former governor of the state, Aliyu Wamakko.

    The APC draws most of its support from the influential Wamakko and many analysts did not give the PDP a chance until it managed to secure a respectable portion of the votes during the presidential election.

    The supplementary election may, however, offer the APC an opportunity to rouse itself from slumber and restrategise for a better outing.

  • Ganduje distributes safe delivery kits to expectant mothers in Kano

    Kano State Government has distributed over 10,000 Delivery Kits worth N150 million to Pregnant Women in the State.

    The distribution exercise covered 15 Local Government Areas with each package containing basic items needed during and after delivery.

    The State Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje disclosed this on Thursday, during the launch of the distribution of the Free Delivery Kits to 2,000 expectant mothers at Gama Primary Health Centre, where the re-run will be held in Nassarawa Local Government Area.

    Dr. Ganduje, represented by his deputy, Dr. Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna stated that the present administration has given priority to free Maternal care for the protection of mothers and children.

    “Today’s Programme is a continuation of the Kits distribution exercise whereby 2,000 women beneficiaries are going to collect delivery Kits containing items needed for by every pregnant Women” he stated.

    Ganduje disclosed that the administration had organised 18 Months training programme on Midwifery after which the trainees were posted to rural areas to assist in ensuring safe delivery.

    According to the Governor, about 1,936 midwives were given special training on how to address contemporary challenges of the profession, adding that the government had equally procured tricycles for conveying pregnant Women to health facilities in their localities.

    He noted that the government also conducted free eye treatment across the state, adding that the exercise which took place at Isa kaita Primary Health Care centre, where over 150 people benefitted, has recorded a huge success.

    He pointed out that over 3,000 people with eye problems also received free medicine and eyeglasses.

    Gov. Ganduje assured the people of his administration’s commitment to continue to execute more projects meant to improve their wellbeing.

    Earlier, the State Commissioner for Health Dr. Kabir Ibrahim Getso said in an effort to improve the Health Sector, the administration of Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje had renovated over 300 Hospitals across the State.

    He maintained that plan was underway to upgrade more Hospitals to allow people in the State get easy access to medical treatment.

    ” Apart from this, the State has recruited more Staff on health to address manpower shortage and create high productivity in our services ” he added.

    Dr. Getso urged the beneficiaries to make the good use of the materials given to them and make sure they reciprocate the gesture by coming out enmass to vote Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje on the 23rd March 2019 supplementary election.