INEC, Police Commend Voters Conduct As By-election Holds in Dawakin Kudu/Warawa Federal Constituency

The Dawakin Kudu/Warawa Federal Constituency by-election in Kano State was conducted peacefully on Saturday, with no reported cases of violence or disruption across the two local government areas involved.

The election was organised to fill the vacant seat created following the death of the former lawmaker representing the constituency, Danjuma Hassan.

Checks across polling units showed that voting commenced early, following the arrival of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials and sensitive election materials. However, the exercise recorded a relatively low turnout in some areas.

At Polling Unit 003, Jalawa Ward, Warawa Local Government Area, the Presiding Officer, Cephas Francis, said about 150 out of 923 registered voters had cast their ballots as of 12:03pm, adding that voting was ongoing without any challenge.

Similarly, at Polling Unit 005, Warawa 1, the Presiding Officer, Akapo Pentlo Mary, disclosed that 93 voters had participated in the exercise, describing the turnout as encouraging.

The INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner in Kano State, Ambassador Abdu Zango, who monitored the exercise alongside the Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Bakori, and members of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES), expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the election.

Zango said the election recorded no violence, adding that the peaceful atmosphere was a result of effective planning and coordination among stakeholders, particularly security agencies.

He said: “The election has gone on very well in Warawa and Dawakin Kudu. There is no violence, no rancour, and nothing that has disrupted the process. This reflects the level of planning and coordination, especially on security.”

The resident electoral commissioner also said the three political parties that participated in the election — the All Progressives Congress, All Progressives Movement and Labour Party — conducted themselves peacefully.

He dismissed reports of technical challenges, stating that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System performed effectively across polling units.

“We have not recorded any challenge with technology. The BVAS worked very well, and there was no report of malfunctioning anywhere,” he added.

On voter turnout, Zango attributed the variation across polling units to differences in the number of registered voters, noting that some units had fewer voters while others had close to 1,000.

He added that increased voter sensitisation by INEC and other stakeholders contributed to citizens’ participation in the election.

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Meanwhile, the Kano State Commissioner of Police, CP Ibrahim Bakori, said the peaceful conduct of the election showed improved security awareness among voters and political actors.

Bakori said unlike previous elections where security agencies arrested several persons with weapons, no such incident was recorded during the by-election.

He assured residents that similar security arrangements would be sustained ahead of future elections, including the 2027 general elections.

The Chairman of Warawa Local Government Area, Lamido Sanusi, also commended INEC and security agencies for ensuring timely distribution of election materials and adequate security coverage across the 143 polling units in the area.