The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has won 15 out of the 19 local government councils results so far released in the Saturday local government elections announced at the various local government headquarters in Kaduna State.
There are 23 local government areas in the state, but election did not hold in Kaura and Jaba local government areas, as the polls in the two councils were postponed till later date.
According to the results announced by the returning officers, APC won in Kaduna North, Kaduna South, Kubau, Sabon Gari, Soba, Zaria, Lere, Ikara, Makarfi, Birnin Gwari, Giwa, Kagarko, Kudan, Igabi and Kajuru local government areas, while the leading opposition party in the state, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won in Zango Kataf with 55,643 while APC polled 31,514.
The opposition party also won in Kachia, Sanga and Kauru local government areas.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of of PDP in the state and one time Minister of State for Aviation, Hon. Felix Hassan Hyet said, his party has been shortchanged, and the party will contest the results in court.
According to the returning officers, in Zaria local government chairmanship election, APC polled 42,859, while PDP scored 16,033; in Soba chairmanship election, APC had 40,903, while PDP polled 13,835; in Makarfi, Returning Officer Dr. Musa Abdullahi Mohammed said APC polled 22,190, while PDP polled 13,088. APC also won in Giwa local government area polling 57, 005 to beat PDP who had 2,636.
APC won in Kudan local government, the council of serving Senator Suleiman Othman Hunkuyi, who is at loggerheads with Governor el-Rufai. The party polled 76,131 to win the chairmanship against PDP who had 3,394.
The returning officer Kaduna North local government area, Umar Hayatu while announcing the results of polls, said that APC chairmanship candidate, Alhaji Saleh Shuaibu polled 168,572 votes to win in Kaduna North, beating the PDP candidate, Alhaji Mohammed Sabo Babayaro, who polled 12,467 votes. The Peoples Redemption Party candidate polled 4,956 votes.
Apart from being one of the four councils within Kaduna metropolis, Kaduna North is also the local government of Governor Nasir el-Rufai.
Despite being given a scare in his polling unit in Ungwar Sarki ward, Governor el-Rufai’s APC still won the Unguwar Sarki ward convincingly, polling 14,863, while PDP scored 706.
In the Governor’s polling unit, APC polled 65 votes, while PDP had 50 votes for chairman in his ward, APC polled 68 votes for councillor, while PDP won 45 votes.
APC also won in Makarfi local government, the council of former PDP chairman and Kaduna state governor, Senator Ahmad Mohammed Makarfi.
Results in the five other councils are still being awaited.
Meanwhile, Kaduna PDP Chairman while addressing newsmen at the party secretariat in Kaduna on Sunday said, the party will soon release its field results of the elections.
He alleged that his party has been shortchanged in the results announced so far in the 13 local government areas of the state. He said their party agents have submitted reports and they will follow legal means to address the injustices he claimed meted on them.
Hyet, further claimed that most of the results announced so far were through radio stations rather than the returning officers whom he alleged disappeared.
The PDP state chairman, while calling on supporters to remain calm,said the manufacturers of the electronic voting machines supposed to have stayed in Kaduna to monitor the machines to avoid malfunction in some polling units.
Hyet, however, alleged that some electronic voting machines were snatched to unknown destinations: “We call on you to brief you on the update of the local election results of 13 local government so far released . Some local government results was not announced by the returning officers but radio stations. At the moment we have some local government areas like, Kaduna South, Chikun, Kajuru, Jema, Kagarko, Sanga, still awaiting to be announced as the returning officers are no where to be found. The returning officers have disappeared completely. Even, some wards returning officers also disappeared,” the PDP alleged.
“We are waiting for the returning officers to come out and announce the results in local government areas yet to be announced. Our agents have submitted the results to us and we will take necessary legal steps to address the injustices. The manufactured of the machines would have been on ground to monitor the machines. Humans are that ones operating the machines”
“We will soon make our reports collected from our field agents publicly. We believe as a party, we will take over power in 2019 because Nigerians have said good bye to APC,” Hyet said.
