The candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Umar Tanko Tunga, has been declared winner of the last Saturday’s bye-election into Nasarawa State House of Assembly to represent Awe North constituency by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
?? Announcing the result at a collation centre in Awe, the headquarters of Awe Local Government of Nasarawa State, INEC’s returning officer, Usman Abubakar announced that Tunga polled 10,428 as against PDP’s candidate, Musa Saidu, who polled 3,400 votes.
? According to the result announced by INEC, CPC won five out of six wards, while PDP won in only one ward in an election that political pundits have described as an acid test between the ruling CPC and PDP in 2015 elections.
?The House of Assembly seat for Awe North constituency became vacant as a result of the sudden death of the former occupant, Faransa Yakubu of the PDP,? who was serving his second term before his demise.
?Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has rejected the result of the election and called for the cancellation of the entire exercise, alleging that elections did not hold in 26 polling units and that the election was characterised by corrupt practices ranging from thumb printing and stuffing of ballot boxes.
?Citing gross misconduct allegedly perpetrated by the CPC, characterised by the snatching of ballot boxes, intimidation of traditional rulers and the threat of termination of appointments issued to civil servants, the PDP dissociated itself from the bye-election.