INEC Declares Reps Bye-Election Inconclusive in Taraba

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared the House of Representative by-election in Jalingo, Yorro, and Zing inconclusive. Professor Daniel Ayuba, the Returning Officer, made the announcement after collating results from the three local government councils comprising the constituency in Jalingo.

Alhaji Tafida Sadiq, the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), secured 17,214 votes, while Mr. Innocent Jabayang of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) emerged as the first runner-up with 15,537 votes, creating a margin of 1,677 votes.

According to Prof. Ayuba, the electoral Act specifies that if the margin of victory is less than the total number of collected Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) in the areas where the election was canceled, the results cannot be declared. In this case, the margin was less than the total number of collected PVCs in the affected areas, which amounted to 14,759.

Consequently, the election is deemed inconclusive, and a rerun is scheduled in the respective areas between the candidate with the highest votes and the first runner-up.

The by-election, held on Saturday, aimed to fill the vacancy left by the late Ismaila Maihanchi, who won the February 2023 general election. His demise occurred before the swearing-in of the 10th National Assembly.