Leadership reported a 178-vote gap between candidate totals and valid ballots in Monday’s All Progressives Congress (APC) primary in Nigeria’s Zamfara North district after returning officer Sani Abdullahi declared Tijjani Yahaya Kaura the winner.
The report listed 16,758 votes for Kaura, 1,465 for incumbent Sahabi Alhaji Ya’u and 1,447 for Sani Abdullahi Shinkafi. Those figures total 19,670, compared with 19,492 valid votes and 19,608 accredited voters. Premium Times said it had no official result sheet to compare with the published figures.
Daily Post said disruptions sent voters and residents fleeing from two polling sites in Kaura Namoda: a unit in Galadima Dangaladima Ward near the Emir’s Palace and Namoda Model Primary School. The outlet reported that one person was seriously injured in a confrontation. It also reported damage to the vehicle of Kaura Namoda Local Government Chairman Mannir Haidara. Blueprint reported that Haidara was targeted after urging delegates to support Ya’u. Daily Post described Ya’u as aligned with Defense Minister of State Bello Matawalle’s camp and Kaura as backed by former Zamfara governor Abdul’aziz Yari’s camp.
The rerun followed a challenge to the APC’s May 19 primary. Vanguard and THISDAY reported that a Federal High Court set aside that vote and ordered a new one after Shinkafi alleged irregularities; the reports did not include the court judgments themselves. Vanguard reported that the Court of Appeal in Sokoto dismissed Ya’u’s appeal on Oct. 20, leaving the rerun order in place.
