Shema wins Katsina, Masari protests

Details: Category: April 2011 Polls; Published on Thursday, 28 April 2011 07:47; Written by Admin; Hits: 1259

The Independent Na-tional Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday announced the incumbent Katsina State governor Ibrahim Shema as winner of last Tuesday’s gubernatorial election with 1,027,912 votes.

Shema He defeated the candidate of the main opposition Congress for progressive Change (CPC) and former speaker House of Representatives Aminu Bello Masari who scored 555,769 votes.

The candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) Dr Usman Bugaje scored 19,990 votes.

The returning officer of the state gubernatorial election Professor James Ayatshe, who announced the result at the state INEC headquarters, said Ibrahim Shema was returned as elected governor of the state having scored the highest votes.

The result which was made available to newsmen shows that opposition Congress for Progressive Change(CPC) scored the highest votes only in six local government areas of Daura, Malumfashi, Bindawa, Dandume, Funtua and Faskari while the remaining twenty eight were swept by the ruling PDP.

The table further shows a total of 1,685,176 as the total number of votes cast in the state out of which 1,620,063 were recorded as valid votes while 65,113 were rejected as invalid.

In the same vein, result from, about sixty polling units were cancelled due to electoral malpractices in the ten local government areas of Funtua, Faskari, Malumfashi, Bakori, Zango, Kankara, Musawa, Ingawa, Dan-Musa and Katsina local governments.

Meanwhile, both Masari and Bugaje have rejected the results of the gubernatorial and state assembly elections conducted in the state, alleging widespread irregularities by the ruling PDP in connivance with securities and the electoral commission.

Addressing newsmen separately at their campaign offices in Katsina yesterday, both Masari and Bugaje alleged electoral malpractices, violence and open inducements in many polling areas across some local government areas of Jibia, Batagarawa, Safana, Kankara, Bakori, Faskari, Dutsinma, Funtua, Daura, Sandamu and Katsina local governments.

They said security agencies provided cover to agents of the PDP to perpetuate electoral malpractices while INEC either under supplied ballot papers or conduct late distribution of the election materials in many areas. (Daily Trust)