After months of intensive campaigns, voters in Nasarawa State have eventually decided who they want as their governor after this political dispensation.
The exercise conducted on Saturday 9th March, 2019 by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) saw to the victory of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Although 24 candidates and political parties were cleared for the contest by the commission, only four political parties including the ruling APC, the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the All Progressive Grand Alliance and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), were in serious contention for the governorship seat.
However, the APC governorship candidate won the keenly contested election with wide margin, thereby placing the PDP second, APGA third and ZLP in fourth position respectively.
According to result announced by the INEC, Engr. Abdullahi Sule of the APC polled a total of 327,229 votes to defeat other opponents in the election.
Prof. Abdullahi Bala, who is the VC of Federal University of Technology, Minna, and the Returning Officer for the election, announced Sule as governor-elect after the collation of results from the 13 local government areas in the state.
According to Prof Bala, Hon David Ombugadu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) scored 184,281 votes, while Mr Labaran Maku of APGA polled a total of 132,784 votes at the election.
He said 686,303 voters were accredited and 681,400 cast their ballots during the election.
Prof Bala further explained that 670,879 of the votes cast were valid while 10,521 were rejected.
The result indicated that APC won in 11 out of the 13 local government areas of the state while Maku of APGA and Umar Aliyu Doma of Zenith Labour Party won in Nasarawa Eggon and Doma local government areas respectively.
Meanwhile, the collation agent of the PDP, Yakubu Dauda Mamma, refused to sign the result sheet because according to him, there were several complaints brought by his party to INEC over the conduct of the exercise but were ignored.
On his part, Aliyu Bello, the APC agent said the outcome of the election was not surprising given the track record of the party in the state under Gov. Umaru Tanko Al-Makura.
“The result of the election is a payback by the people of the state for the great work done by Al-Makura and the APC,’ he said.
In his acceptance speech, the governor-elect of Nasarawa state, Engr. Abdullahi Sule, assured that all the campaign promises he made will be fulfilled to ensure a greater state for all, irrespective of party affiliation.
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Sule, who called on his opponents at the poll to join him in order to move the state to greater heights, dedicated his success to the people of the state and said the dedication cuts across political, religious and ethnic divide.
“Let me express my profound appreciation to the entire people of Nasarawa state, especially the electorate, for their overwhelming support and show of love, which saw to the success we are here celebrating today.”
He said the victory had opened another vista for consolidation on the achievements of Gov. Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, adding that he would sustain the tempo of development in the state.
“I want to assure you that the confidence reposed in me will not be misplaced.
“Let me use this opportunity to extend my hands of fellowship and appeal to fellow contestants across party lines. They are urged to join me in the task of building a united and peaceful Nasarawa state for the benefit of all” Sule said.
The election may have come and gone, but the reactions are bound to last longer especially as the main opposition parties, the PDP and APGA, have indicated interest in challenging the result in court
In the meantime, the governorship candidate of the PDP, Hon David Ombugadu, has said the state is the headquarters of election rigging.
Ombugadu, stated this in his residence in Akwanga local government area of the state during a press conference on the outcome of the governorship election.
According to him, he has total confidence in the judiciary and he will reclaim his stolen mandate at the end of the day.
“From what we have seen, Nasarawa State is gradually becoming the headquarters of rigging, the facts are there, everything that is happening in Kano is what is happening in Nasarawa state”
“Everything that is happening in Bauchi state is what is happening in Nasarawa state , the monumental rigging that took place in the governorship election in Nasarawa state will soon be expose by the judiciary”
“I have total confidence in the judiciary, I believe that the judiciary will do justice to what has happened in Nasarawa state, the peoples mandate that was stolen will be recovered” he said
On his part, the candidate of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Labaran Maku, has rejected the result of the poll over alleged fraud.
He said: “The APC-led government colluded with INEC and the security agencies to announce a pre-allocated election results and placed APGA in third position in order to shut us up to create an impression that the people are not with us”.
Maku, who is also a former Minister Information, said that the preliminary reaction of his party was that the result was not a true reflection of the votes cast by the people of the state adding that “we reject it in totality”.
Labaran Maku alleged that the election was distorted in Wamba, Toto, Lafia, Awe and Keffi local governments respectively.
