All preparations for the February 3 bye-elections for the state’s House of Assembly bye-elections in Kunchi/Tsanyawa, Kura/Garin Malam, and Rimin Gado/Tofa have been finalised, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Kano.
This was revealed by the state’s resident electoral commissioner, Amb. Abdu Zango, during a Tuesday speech to stakeholders at the commission’s Kano offices.
“With our skilled electoral staff prepared to conduct fair and unbiased bye elections in six local government districts throughout the state, we are completely prepared for the bye-election.
“Across the six local government regions, there are 66 polling places where we are holding elections.
He issued a warning, saying, “Anyone without a permanent voter card will not participate in the court bye election.”
According to him, all impacted local government areas have previously received both sensitive and non-sensitive materials from the commission.
Zango clarified that the rerun elections would make use of the BVAS Machine in an effort to guarantee a free, fair, and credible election process.
He seemed optimistic that the bye-election would go through.
In order to execute a free, fair, and transparent election on February 3, he stated, “We have trained and equipped our personnel with basic electoral knowledge.”
The Police’s efforts to provide the necessary security both before and during the bye-election were applauded by the REC.
At the ceremony, Hussaini Gumel, the state’s commissioner of police, stated that the command has already put in place security measures to ensure the smooth execution of all voting operations in the impacted local government Areas.
Speaking on behalf of CSP Hamma Abdullahi, Gumel stated that eligible citizens in the six local government districts will be able to take part in the exercise without fear of harm to themselves or their property because police would be present in every voting place.
He cautioned political party leaders who would be running for office to instill in their followers the value of abstaining from all forms of political violence, ballot snatching, and thuggery throughout the election process.
The state is renowned for its peaceful political climate, and he declared that “police will not hesitate to arrest and prosecute any person or group of people found disrupting that atmosphere.”
