The Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, on Monday rejected the verdict of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Saturday’s governorship election in the state.
The governor also said he would seek legal redress over the yet to be concluded election.
PREMIUM TIMES reported how the governorship election in the state was declared inconclusive Monday morning.
The returning officer, Fatima Mukhtar, said the margin of win was lower than the number of rejected votes and thus the election was declared inconclusive.
In the results declared by INEC, Mr Tambuwal was leading his closest rival, Ahmed Aliyu of the All Progressives Congress, with a slim margin of 3,413 votes.
Speaking at a press conference Monday morning, the governor alleged that there was no cause for the election to be declared inconclusive.
“Going by Section 179(2) of the Constitution as amended, there was no clause that gave room for inconclusiveness,” he said.
“The Returning Officer, up till now, has not told us why (we should have a) re-run in each of the polling units. The Electoral Act is very clear on reasons for re-run or inconclusiveness.
“Where there is violence or malfunctioning card reader machine, what is expected is to record zero vote in such polling unit(s).
“If INEC did not do the needful, I will approach the court to test the viability of the Commission’s technicality.”
Mr Tambuwal argued that votes have been cast and he was clearly ahead with the highest number of votes in more than two-thirds areas of the state.
“Therefore,” he said, “INEC needs to come back and declare the result.
“The trend from Bauchi, Sokoto, Plateau and Adamawa states is worrisome. PDP has won the election in Sokoto and INEC should do the needful.”
Mr Tambuwal, however, added that challenging INEC’s decision in court does not mean the party will boycott the re-run.
“Challenging INEC’s decision in court does not say we will boycott the re-run. We will surely mobilise the electorate and confirm our resounding acceptability to the people of Sokoto State,” he said.
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