Candidate Ownership Dispute Rocks Kano Assembly By-Polls Amid Voter Apathy
By Ahmad Tijjani Abdul
KANO – A dispute over the ownership of candidates has cast a shadow over the by-elections into two seats of the Kano State House of Assembly, as voters head to the polls in Kano Municipal and Ungogo local government areas.
The controversy centers on claims by the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) that the candidates fielded by the All Progressives Congress (APC) were originally its nominees before a wave of political defections altered the state’s landscape.
Already, the elections is going on as scheduled as security arrangements have been put in place to make the exercise a hitch free.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had earlier announced that it had concluded preparations for the conduct of the by-elections, which are being held to fill vacancies created by the deaths of two lawmakers.
The commission said arrangements were in place to ensure a smooth voting process across the affected constituencies.
The seats became vacant following the deaths of Aminu Sa’ad Ungogo and Sarki Aliyu Daneji, both elected on the platform of the NNPP.
The two lawmakers reportedly died on the same day in December 2025, prompting the need for fresh polls in their respective constituencies.
However, the political atmosphere surrounding the elections has been anything but calm, as the NNPP declined to field new candidates, arguing that those now flying the APC flag were initially screened and nominated by the NNPP before political realignments in the state.
The APC, on its part, is fielding Nabil Aliyu Daneji in Kano Municipal Local Government Area and Sa’ad Aminu Sa’ad in Ungogo.
The absence of NNPP candidates may also influence voter turnout and the perceived competitiveness of the polls.
As voting gets underway, attention will not only be on who emerges victorious but also on how the unfolding dispute may shape future political contests in the state.