By Callistus Agwaza in Jalingo
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC ) has declared the by-election for the Jalingo/Yorro/Zing federal constituency held on Saturday inconclusive.
INEC returning officer, Prof. Daniel Ayuba explained that the total number of PVCs collected in areas where election was cancelled out number the margin of victory.
Ayuba said that while the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Tafida Sadiq, scored a total of 17,214 votes, the candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) Innocent Jabayang, who came in as the first runner up scored 15,537, putting the difference between the duo at 1,677.
The INEC returning officer noted that, “In the current electoral Act, there is a principle which stipulates that, if the margin of victory is less than the total number of collected PVCs in the areas where election is cancelled, the result can not be declared and anyone declared returned.
“From the computation that we have done and the results available to us, the margin of victory is less than the total number of collected PVCs in the areas where election did not hold, or cancelled. Consequently, the election is inconclusive and a rerun would be held in the respective areas only between the candidate with the highest votes and the first runner-up”.
The election was held to fill the vacuum created following the death of Ismaila Maihanchi, who won the February 2023 general election on the platform of the PDP.
