By Opeyemi Adelakun
The All Progressives Congress secured four of the five legislative seats contested in Saturday’s bye-elections across Gombe, Kano, Bauchi and Delta states, while the Allied Peoples Movement claimed the remaining seat in Bauchi.
The elections, conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission, covered one House of Representatives constituency and four State House of Assembly constituencies.
In Gombe, APC candidate Usman Maijama’a Kallamu won the Gombe/Kwami/Funakaye Federal Constituency seat with 41,121 votes.
The result was announced after the poll, which was conducted across 903 polling units in 31 Registration Areas covering Gombe, Kwami and Funakaye Local Government Areas.
The Labour Party scored 3,553 votes, while the APM polled 872 votes. A total of 47,301 votes were cast, with 46,551 declared valid and 750 rejected.
The seat became vacant following the death of the former representative, Yaya Bauchi Tongo.
In Kano State, APC’s Husseini Yusuf Datti won the Dawakin Kudu State Constituency bye-election with 22,890 votes.
The PRP secured 270 votes, while the PDP polled 108. Other parties recorded significantly lower figures.
Delta also went to the APC, with its candidate, Okolosi Ator, winning the Udu State Constituency election with 8,724 votes.
The PDP candidate polled 214 votes in the contest, according to the declared result.
Bauchi produced a split result, with the APC and APM taking one constituency each.
In Disina State Constituency, APC candidate Yakubu Ali won with 5,846 votes, narrowly defeating his APM challenger, who scored 5,225 votes. The PRP recorded 3,701 votes.
However, the APM secured the Sakwa State Constituency in Zaki Local Government Area, where Adamu Yakubu polled 8,515 votes to defeat the APC candidate, who received 3,771 votes.
The PDP scored 2,076 votes, while the PRP obtained 727 votes.
The five contests therefore ended with four seats for the APC and one for the APM, preventing a complete sweep by the ruling party.
The APC national chairman, Nentawe Yilwatda, congratulated the party’s victorious candidates and commended INEC and security agencies for their roles in conducting the elections.
The party’s victories were also highlighted by Aviation and Aerospace Development Minister Festus Keyamo, who pointed to the geographical spread of the APC wins across Kano in the North-West, Bauchi and Gombe in the North-East, and Delta in the South-South.
Keyamo described the distribution of the victories as significant in the context of the 2027 general elections, although the bye-election results themselves were limited to the affected constituencies.
Meanwhile, INEC Chairman Joash Amupitan said the bye-elections would provide operational lessons for the commission as it prepares for the 2027 elections.
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