Political Update.

APC sweeps Zamfara LG polls The Zamfara Independent Electoral Commission (ZSIEC) has declared the candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as winners of the Local Government Council election in the state. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 42 political parties participated in the polls, but the major opposition political parties in the state boycotted the elections. NAN recalls that some political parties in the state, including the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Accord Party, had last week filed a case at the state High Court in Gusau, challenging the State Independent Electoral Commission over failure to serve election notice to political parties in the state. Declaring the result, the Executive Chairman of the commission, Alhaji Garba Muhammad, said: “In accordance with the Law of the Commission No 4 2012 as ammended, I, Garba Muhammad as the Chief Returning of the LG election in Zamfara, hereby announce the results of the 14 local government elections conducted by the commission on Saturday, April 27, 2019.” Muhammad said 147 candidates of the councillorship positions and 28 chairmanship and vice chairmanship candidates of the APC also won the elections in all the 14 local government areas of the state. He listed the winners of Chairmanship positions of the 14 local government areas as follows: 1. Anka – Ahmad Balarabe with 38,698 votes 2. Birnin/Magaji – Muhammad Umar – 67,002 votes 3. Bungudu – Abdul’aziz Ahmad – 75,219 votes, 4. Bakura – Dandare Dandako – 65,060 votes 5. Bukkuyum – Nasiru Zarumi – 64,049 votes 6. Gummi – Kabiru S-Aski – 53,668 votes 7. Gusau – Alhaji Babangida – 115,142 votes 8. Kaura/Namoda – Lawal Abdullahi – 62,051 votes. 9. Maradun – Ahmad Abubakar – 50,812 votes 10. Maru – Salisu Isah – 75,274 votes 11. Shinkafi – Sani Galadi – 48,469 votes 12. Talata-Mafara – Lawal Marafa – 70,625 votes 13. Tsafe – Aminu Mudi – 74,521 votes 14. Zurmi – Awwal Bawa – 76,510 votes The chairman thanked the state government for providing logistics support to the commission. He also commended security agencies in the state for ensuring peaceful atmosphere in the state during the election. Besides, he laudded the political parties in the state who participated in the election, saying: “In the previous elections in 2012 and 2016 we recorded few political parties, but for this election 42 political parties participated. “We gave election notice to political parties since January this year for this exercise and most of them acknowledged our letters,” he said. He appreciated the Media, Civil Society Organisations and other stakeholders for their support and cooperation which led to the success of the election. NAN