Former FCT minister Bala Mohammed set to be named Bauchi State governor-elect on Tuesday

FORMER Federal Capital Territory (FCT) minister Bala Mohammed of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) looks set to be named as the Bauchi State governor-elect after the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec) said it will declare a winner on Tuesday.

Like most of Nigeria's other states, Bauchi went to the polls on March 9 to elect a governor but Inec declared the results inconclusive because it said the number of cancelled votes were greater that the margin between the two leading candidates. In Bauchi State, the gubernatorial race was a straight fight between Mr Mohammed and incumbent Governor Mohammed Abubakar of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Following the declaration of the results as inconclusive, Inec had decided to hold supplementary elections in Ningi Local Government Area of Bauchi State on March 23 but has now cancelled this after it discovered that the figures it was initially provided with were inaccurate. According to Inec the number of cancelled votes in four polling units in Ningi Local Government was 2,533 and not 25,330 as recorded.

Also, in Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area where collation was disrupted by armed gangs, affecting seven out of 11 polling centres for governorship and six out of 11 for state assembly elections, Inec said a committee set up has found that the results are available and in safe custody. Inec has thus decided to resume the conclusion of the collation of results of the area for both the governorship and state assembly elections

A new collation and returning officer for Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area has been appointed to continue and conclude the collation process in place of the original collation officer, who withdrew from the exercise citing threats to her life and those of her family members. Mr Mohammed was said to have won the Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area election, putting him in an overall lead but the Inec returning officer, Professor Mohammed Kyari, declared the election inconclusive, giving the scores of incumbent governor as 465,453 votes and those of  Bala Mohammed as 469,512 votes.

At the time, he said: “The margin between the winner and opponent is less than the total number of votes cancelled in some polling units. By law, since the margin of winner is less than the total number of votes cancelled and registered voters in the areas where the votes have been cancelled, this elections is hereby declared inconclusive."

However, with Inec adopting the result of the Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area and amending the result for four polling units in Ningi Local government, the PDP believes that its candidate has won the election. On Tuesday, Inec thus looks set to declare Mr Mohammed as the Bauchi State governor-elect.