Senate rerun/bye-elections : ADP leads in Plateau as APC set for victory in Yobe, Ebonyi

Senate rerun/bye-elections : ADP leads in Plateau as APC set for victory in Yobe, Ebonyi

Candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) last night established clear lead in the bye-elections held in Ebonyi South Senatorial District and Yobe East Senatorial District.

The party won outright in the bye-election in Surulere 1 federal constituency of Lagos State.

Prince Pam Dachungyang of the Action Democratic Party (ADP) surged ahead in Plateau North following protest votes by the electorate to express their displeasure at the exclusion of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from the polls.

The by-elections took place in 26 states across the country, namely Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Enugu, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ondo, Oyo, Plateau, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe and Zamfara.

However, midway into the polls yesterday, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced the suspension of voting in Ikono/Ini federal constituency of Akwa Ibom State and some state constituencies in Enugu and Kano states, citing irregularities, disruption of election and abduction of electoral officials.

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According to vote returns from the polling units as posted by INEC on its I-Rev portal last night, APC’s Professor Anthony Ani was leading comfortably in Ebonyi South while Hon. Musa Mustapha also of the APC seemed to have garnered most of the results for Yobe East.

The majority of the voters in Plateau North Senatorial District, apparently disenchanted by the exclusion of the PDP from the by-election, chose to cast their lot for Dachungyang, although INEC said yesterday that it had postponed voting in 18 units in the senatorial district.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner in the State, Dr Oliver Agundu, said the postponement was as a result of complaints about shortage of electoral materials in some polling units.

He said: “15 are in Tudun-Wada/Kabong Ward, and three are in Naraguta B ward all in Jos North LGA. So, we have decided that we cannot even take it for granted that this is a negligible number compared to over 900 polling units where the elections took place.”

The commission last night declared APC’s Kayode Laguda winner of the Surulere1 election with 11,203 votes.

His closest opponent, Jerry Afemikhe of the PDP got 278 votes while Adeola Adebano of Labour Party had 240 votes.

Senate rerun/bye-elections : ADP leads in Plateau as APC set for victory in Yobe, Ebonyi