INEC Declares Kabba-Bunu/Ijumu Federal Constituency House of Representatives Poll Inconclusive
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared the House of Representatives poll in the Kabba-Bunu/Ijumu Federal Constituency inconclusive. The Returning Officer, Dr. Adams Baba, announced on Sunday after announcing the results of the election.
According to Baba, the decision to declare the poll inconclusive was necessary due to the slim margin of difference between the winners and the first runner-up and the cancellation of results in two polling units of the federal Constituency during the poll.
Baba stated that the difference in the results between the winner, Arch Salman Idris of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), and the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, (APC), Prince Matthew Kolawole, was not up to the number of registered voters in the canceled polling units.
“The ADC candidate (Idris) polled 13,867 while the APC candidate (Kolawole) polled 13,605 leaving just 262 votes difference,” Baba said.
“Whereas, the number of PVCs collected in the canceled polling units of Iya in Otu ward in Kabba/Bunu Local Government Area is 485 and that of Open Space polling unit in Egbeda ward in Ijumu Local Government Area is 100. This is more than the difference between the two leading candidates.”
However, Baba did not state the date when a rerun election would be conducted in the affected polling units.
This development comes amidst rising tension and violence in some parts of the country during the just-concluded elections. INEC had earlier declared the election in some other constituencies across the country as inconclusive due to various reasons such as violence, disruption of the voting process, and over-voting, among others.
