INEC declares Kebbi State governorship election inconclusive

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared the Kebbi governorship election inconclusive.

INEC collation and returning officer, Yusuf Sa’idu, said this was due to “massive vote cancellation and over-voting” in 20 of the 21 LGAs in the state.

He gave the total number of registered voters as 2,032,041 out of which the All Progressives Congress (APC) polled 388,258 and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) garnered 342,980, leaving a difference of 45,278.

The returning officer said 792, 234 votes were cast, 18,204 votes were rejected and the total votes cast was 760,438.

“We aggregated the total number of collected PVCs in those polling units (where votes were cancelled) and it came to a total of 91,829. And when we checked the results, the two leading political parties in this contest, the APC and the PDP polled 388,258 and 342,980 votes respectively. When we looked at the difference, it stands at 45,278,” he said.

Sa’idu said going by the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022, “where the number of votes cast in an election in any polling unit exceeds the number of accredited voters in that polling unit, the presiding officer shall cancel the result of the election in that polling unit. Subsection three of section 51 also states that where the result of an election is cancelled in accordance with subsection two, there shall be no return for the election until another poll has taken place in the affected polling unit.

“By virtue of these provisions and the powers vested in me as the collation and returning officer of the 2023 gubernatorial election in Kebbi State, I, Prof. Yusuf Sa’idu of the Usman Danfodio University, Sokoto, hereby declare the gubernatorial election in Kebbi State inconclusive.”