MUSA, CPC CANDIDATE WINS N'ASSEMBLY RE-RUN ELECTION

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Mr. Musa Baba of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) winner of the Nasarawa/Toto Federal Constituency after a rerun election last Saturday.

Declaring the results on Sunday, INEC returning officer in the election, Mr. Merijani Peters announced that Mr Musa Baba of CPC scored the highest votes after polling 48,769 votes to defeat four other candidates, while Mr. Samuel Egya of the PDP polled 46,810 to place second in the election.

The PDP candidate Egya had gone to tribunal after INEC declared Musa winner of the said election during the April polls having cancelled results from the affected polling unit over alleged irregularities.

Daily Sun observed an improvement from the conduct of Saturday's rerun election on the part of INEC as electoral materials and personnel were deployed adequately and on time and the processes timely. However, voters' apathy mar the process as turnout was low, while voters' education was erratic.

For instance, at Karimo unit in Toto, and Sabon-Gida Angbazo polling unit in Nasarawa Local Government Areas, some voters were asking for assistance in order to cast their votes but the INEC presiding officers prevented party agents from helping them so as to forestall cases of irregularities.

Our correspondent reports that the election was conducted peacefully without any incidence of violence or confrontation amongst the political parties, even as adequate security was deployed to forestall any breach of peace, with over 10 security personnel manning each polling unit.