The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said that the elections became necessary following the resignation or death of the previous occupants of the seats at the national and state assemblies.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Saturday conducted by-elections in 16 constituencies across the country, with voters casting their ballots to elect their representatives to fill vacant legislative seats.
The affected states were Jigawa, Edo, Ogun, Oyo, Adamawa, Anambra, Kaduna, Kano, Taraba, Kogi, Niger, Enugu, and Zamfara.
Saturday’s by-elections covered two senatorial districts in Anambra and Edo states, five federal constituencies in Edo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Ogun, and Oyo states, and nine state constituencies in Adamawa, Anambra, Kaduna, Kano, Kogi, Niger, Taraba, and Zamfara.
The vacancies followed the resignation or death of serving members of the national and state assemblies.
READ ALSO: Zamfara By-Election: Large Turnout Recorded In Kaura-Namoda South Constituency
The Anambra South seat in the Senate became vacant following the death of Senator Ifeanyi Ubah of the All Progressives Congress (APC) — formerly of the Young Progressive Party (YPP) — in July 2024. That of Edo Central became open after the election of Senator Monday Okpebholo of the APC as the governor of Edo State.
Also, the court-ordered re-run election in Enugu South 1 State Constituency and the Ghari/Tsanyawa State Constituency of Kano State were conducted.
INEC had on Friday said the vacant seats would be contested by different political parties, including the Social Democratic Party (SDP), following the judgment of the Federal High Court, Abuja Division, which ordered the electoral commission to include the party and its candidates in the by-elections in 12 states of the federation.
In Ogun, there was a heavy presence of security personnel across major streets in Sagamu, Ikenne, and Remo North local government areas.
Channels Television observed that the turnout was impressive, while security officials were sighted at strategic locations to ensure a peaceful election.
In Kaduna, voting commenced across many polling units in Kajuru and Chikun local government areas for the Chikun/Kajuru Federal Constituency poll.
The seat became vacant following the death of the former member representing the zone, Ekene Adams, who passed on last year.
Voting commenced at 9:30 am in the Garki Local Government Area of Jigawa State to elect a new member for the House of Representatives seat left vacant following the death of Isa Dongonyaro, who represented the Garki/Babura Federal Constituency of Jigawa State.
It was a similar story in Taraba, where there was a large turnout of voters in the Karim Lamido Ome State Constituency by-election.
But when Channels Television visited some of the polling units, it observed that INEC officials struggled to capture and accredit many voters using the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) as the machine malfunctioned.
Meanwhile, the Kaura-Namoda South Constituency by-election in Zamfara State recorded a large turnout of voters. The election followed the death of the lawmaker representing the constituency at the Zamfara State House of Assembly, Aminu Kasuwar-Daji, who passed away earlier this year.
At polling units in Kyambarawa and Kurya-Madaro wards visited by Channels Television, there was a large voter turnout.
Cases of voter inducement were, however, observed in some polling units visited. Some voters also expressed concern over delays caused by the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machine during accreditation.
At Kasuwar Daji Primary School, voting was disrupted by suspected thugs, leading to the cancellation of the process in two of the three polling units in the area.
Reacting to the incident, the Zamfara State Publicity Secretary of the APC, Yusuf Idris, alleged that a local government chairman led operatives of the state-owned security outfit to disrupt the exercise.
The police had on Friday prohibited the involvement of state-owned security outfits in the by-elections.
But in defence, the Senior Special Adviser to the Governor on Broadcast Media, Mustapha Jafaru, said the deployment of the Community Protection Guards was to complement the work of security agencies, given the insecurity affecting some parts of the constituency.
Despite the disruptions in some polling units, observers described the election as generally peaceful, with expectations that the outcome would reflect the will of the people.
In Ogun, Governor Dapo Abiodun cast his vote in his Osanyin Ward Three, Unit 002, in Iperu, for the Remo Federal Constituency by-election.
Speaking shortly after exercising his franchise, he expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the process and commended INEC for its level of preparedness.
He also lauded the impressive turnout of voters at his polling unit.
“I have just exercised my franchise. I am quite impressed with the feedback I got this morning that the electoral materials arrived early. There is also an impressive turnout.
“Everybody is going about voting peacefully. In some places, maybe because of the weather, the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machine took some time to capture. So far, everything is so good.
“I want to thank INEC for being on top of their game as usual. Obviously, year in, year out, they are improving the quality of their services. Basically, everything is going well. No ranchor, no fighting,” said Abiodun.
His Anambra State counterpart, Chukwuma Soludo, cast his vote at polling unit 002, Ofuiyi Square, Isuofia, in the Aguata Local Government Area of the state.
Governor Soludo commended the process, which he said was relatively peaceful, but for the manhandling of the environment commissioner by thugs loyal to the opposition.
He insisted on free and fair elections as the wish of the people of the Anambra South Senatorial zone.
The Governor of Edo State, Monday Okpebholo, also cast his vote in the Edo Central Senatorial by-election at Ward 2, Unit 1, Udomi Primary School in Udomi-Uwessan, Esan Central LGA.
The governor arrived at the polling unit at about 9:45 am, underwent accreditation, and subsequently cast his ballot around 9:52. am.
Okpebholo, who described the process as peaceful, however, expressed concerns over the delay in the BVAS process.
READ ALSO: Man Arrested With ₦25m Cash For Alleged Vote Buying In Kaduna
Meanwhile, the APC has called on the INEC to immediately cancel the by-election for Shanono/Bagwai constituency and the Ghari constituency re-run election in Kano State.
The party said the exercise was marred by widespread “extreme” violence and election disruption by armed thugs across several polling units in Shanono/Bagwai and Ghari constituencies.
In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, the party claimed that verifiable reports from the Shanono and Bagwai local government areas and Ghari constituency showed that voters fled polling areas.
Similarly, the candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the Remo Federal Constituency by-election, Bolarinwa Oluwole, alleged widespread violence and intimidation of voters during the exercise.
Speaking to journalists in Sagamu after casting his ballot, he insisted that PDP supporters were attacked by thugs allegedly loyal to the APC and described the election as a disgrace to democracy.
Oluwole also accused security agencies of complicity for failing to protect voters. He urged the INEC to ensure a credible process and warned against attempts to manipulate the results.
Earlier, security operatives in Kaduna arrested a suspected agent with about ₦25 million allegedly earmarked for vote-buying ahead of the elections.
In a statement, the spokesman of the Kaduna State Police Command, Mansir Hassan, said the suspect, Shehu Patangi, was arrested in the early hours of Saturday morning at a popular hotel located along Turunku Road in Kaduna metropolis, where he was said to be coordinating the distribution of funds for vote buying to influence voters in the Chikun/Kajuru Federal Constituency bye-election.
Hassan said that a total cash of ₦25,963,000 was recovered from the suspect, believed to be for inducing voters to compromise the electoral process.
According to the police, the suspect, during preliminary interrogation, confessed to the crime and pleaded for leniency.
A similar scenario was reported in Ogun State as two members of the opposition PDP in Ogun — the state chairman, Abayomi Tella, and another party member — and two INEC officials were reportedly arrested in Iperu for allegedly being in possession of huge sums of cash meant for vote buying in the Remo Federal Constituency by-election.
They were said to have been arrested in the early hours of Saturday and had provided very useful information to the police regarding their alleged respective roles in bribing election officials and rigging the election.
But in a swift reaction, the PDP, in a statement, said Tella was arrested in his hotel in the early hours of the day, in what appears to be a calculated attempt to weaken the opposition and pave the way for the All Progressives Congress to manipulate the election.
In Kano, the police arrested 288 suspected thugs during the re-run election for Ghari/Tsanyawa State Constituency and Bagwai/Shanono State Constituency.
The Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Bakori, disclosed this to newsmen in the Shanono Local Government Area of the state.
According to him, the thugs carrying dangerous weapons were suspected to have been deployed to disrupt the election process, but were apprehended by the police.
Bakori, however, noted that the suspects would be arraigned after proper investigation.
Meanwhile, INEC on Friday said the results of the elections would be uploaded on its Result Viewing Portal (IReV).
“After the close of the poll and the ballots have been sorted, counted, and the figures entered correctly into the Form EC8A, which is the polling unit result, the presiding officers are required to snap a picture of the PU results and then upload it to the IREV.
“And of course, maybe between 3 pm and 4 pm, depending on when each polling unit concludes, the results will be posted, and Nigerians will have access to see the results as they are posted from the various polling units,” Oyekanmi said while speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
The results were still trickling in as of the time of filing the report.
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*Source: [https://www.channelstv.com/category/politics/](https://www.channelstv.com/category/politics/)*