The APC has won the Katsina senatorial by-election, a boost at a time when it is facing mass defections in parliament and elsewhere.
The governing All Progressives Congress (APC) has won the senatorial by-election in Katsina State after its candidate, Ahmad Babba Kaita, polled the most votes from the exercise conducted on Saturday, August 11, 2018.
Babba-Kaita who is currently a member of the federal House of Representatives, polled a vote total of 224,607 to beat a slew of other contestants.
Interestingly, Babba-Kaita’s closest challenger for the Katsina senatorial seat was his brother and candidate of the PDP, Kabir Babba-Kaita.
Ahmad and Kabir share the same father but different mothers.
The older Kabir Babba-Kaita polled 59, 724 votes.
Why the Katsina senatorial election was important for the APC
In other Katsina senatorial by-election results as seen by Pulse, MPN scored 633 votes, MMN 343, GPN got 1056 and DA polled 796.
The Katsina North senatorial by-election was held to fill in the vacant seat left by Senator Mustapha Bukar, who died in April this year.
Katsina North is the senatorial district of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The election is coming on the back of the battle for majority seats in the senate, following a gale of defections in Nigeria’s national assembly and elsewhere in the polity, from July 24, 2018.
The APC and PDP will be conducting a headcount to determine just which party controls majority seats in parliament, when the national assembly reconvenes for plenary on Tuesday, August 14, 2018.
Here are full results from the 12 local councils that make up the Katsina North district, as released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC):
Daura LG
No of registered voters – 76559
No of accredited voters – 23272
APC – 18436
DA – 45
GPN – 566
MMN – 18
MPN – 26
PDP – 3228
Total valid votes – 22309
Rejected – 501
Total votes cast – 22810
Ingawa LG
No of registered voters – 76020
No of accredited voters – 23146
APC – 17036
DA – 111
GPN – 63
MMN – 44
MPN – 80
PDP – 4005
Total valid votes – 21339
Rejected – 902
Total votes cast – 22241
Dutsi LG
No of registered voters – 56912
No of accredited voters – 19007
APC – 13868
DA – 31
GPN – 25
MMN – 9
MPN – 31
PDP – 3930
Total valid votes – 17894
Rejected – 465
Total votes cast – 18359
Sandamu LG
No of registered voters – 65445
No of accredited voters – 25421
APC – 18834
DA – 20
GPN – 11
MMN – 6
MPN – 7
PDP – 4610
Total valid votes – 23488
Rejected – 553
Total votes cast – 24041
Mani LG
No of registered voters – 92544
No of accredited voters – 31048
APC – 20479
DA – 127
GPN – 98
MMN – 55
MPN – 113
PDP – 7017
Total valid votes – 27889
Rejected – 1295
Total votes cast – 29184
Mashi LG
No of registered voters – 83663
No of accredited voters – 32987
APC – 20927
DA – 168
GPN – 82
MMN – 84
MPN – 133
PDP – 8653
Total valid votes – 300042
Rejected – 1698
Total votes cast – 31745
Zango LG
No of registered voters – 62378
No of accredited voters – 18528
APC – 14175
DA – 23
GPN – 34
MMN – 8
MPN – 19
PDP – 3057
Total valid votes – 17316
Rejected – 655
Total votes cast – 17971
Kankia LG
No of registered voters – 62196
No of accredited voters – 23509
APC – 16653
DA – 42
GPN – 27
MMN – 6
MPN – 23
PDP – 5366
Total valid votes – 22117
Rejected – 1055
Total votes cast – 23172
Baure LG
No of registered voters – 92346
No of accredited voters – 36770
APC – 28271
DA – 105
GPN – 46
MMN – 19
MPN – 44
PDP – 5674
Total valid votes – 34159
Rejected – 1432
Total votes cast – 34159
Kusada LG
No of registered voters – 51019
No of accredited voters – 18349
APC – 12331
DA – 32
GPN – 18
MMN – 20
MPN – 42
PDP – 4783
Total valid votes – 17226
Rejected – 658
Total votes cast – 17884
Bindawa LG
No of registered voters – 76924
No of accredited voters – 29584
APC – 22234
DA – 43
GPN – 40
MMN – 16
MPN – 63
PDP – 5549
Total valid votes – 27945
Rejected – 1023
Total votes cast – 28968
Mai’adua LG
No of registered voters – 68049
No of accredited voters – 26869
APC – 21363
DA – 49
GPN – 56
MMN – 58
MPN – 52
PDP – 3852
Total valid votes – 25430
Rejected – 654
Total votes cast – 2608