Contrary to initial reports, the Defence Minister and former governor of Jigawa State, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, successfully delivered his local polling unit for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Saturday’s parliamentary by-election.
Earlier reports had incorrectly said that the APC lost at Polling Unit 001 in Babura Kofar Arewa Primary School, mistakenly identified as the minister’s voting location.
However, according to reports, official results confirmed that Mr Badaru actually cast his ballot at Polling Unit 002 within the same school, where the APC secured 188 votes against the opposition Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) 164.
The confusion stemmed from the misreporting of results from the adjacent polling station, briefly creating the impression of a defeat for the governing party in the minister’s ward.
The election, held under tight security with personnel from the police, civil defence, and immigration services, saw the APC’s candidate, Mukhtar Rabiu, declared the winner with 38,449 votes. His closest rival, the PDP’s Isah Auwalu Manzo, received 13,519 votes, while the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) candidate trailed with 2,931.
The by-election was neccesitated by the death in May of the former occupant, Isa Dogonyaro, who had represented the Babura/Garki constituency in the House of Representatives. The Minister of State for Education, Suwaiba Ahmad, was among those who participated in the vote.
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