Breaking: INEC Declares Winner in 2nd Northern State's By-Election

• Rabiu Aiki from APC has been declared the winner of the Zuru State Constituency by-election in Kebbi State with 4,871 votes
• The election came amid questions over the absence of ADC and NDC in a significant electoral contest ahead of the 2027 elections
• Nigerians' reactions to the development highlighted concerns about Nigeria's electoral integrity and candidate-focused voting mindset

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The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Rabiu Aiki, as the winner of the Zuru State Constituency by-election for the Kebbi State House of Assembly.

The collation officer, Muhammad Danladi of the Federal University Birnin Kebbi, while announcing the result from the collation centre, said that Aiki scored 4,871 votes ahead of his closest rival, Aliyu Muhammad of the Labour Party (LP), who polled 168 votes.

Kebbi election was one of the by-elections conducted in six Nigerian states, along with the Ekiti governorship election. Some Nigerians have started questioning the absence of the new opposition parties, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), in the election.

Nigerians react as INEC announces winner in Kebbi

Many have seen the by-election as a testing ground for the new opposition parties ahead of the 2027 general elections. Below are some of their reactions:

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Heyman questioned the absence of the ADC and the NDC in the election:

"And I ask again, where are the ADC and NDC structures? How did they plan to defeat the APC in the next elections? They said it doesn’t matter if APC has all the governors, but the results of the by-elections are showing why it was important. Even a dead PDP is doing better."

Ken-James maintained that voting is all about the candidates:

"What you ppl don’t understand about Voting is that voting is not about the party; it’s about the Candidate, because if APC give us Good Candidate ppl will vote for the candidate, and you can’t say because APC have bad candidates in some areas, so every candidate is bad."

Anayochukwu explained reservations against voting in Nigeria:

"The reason I think voting is wasting ot time is that I will stand for hours cashing my votes only for it to be read out this way on a piece of paper. Something that can easily be manipulated. Electronic voting is the only way to go.

Adetunji Adewolu explained how to win an election in Nigeria:

"From 168 to 4,871 is not a defeat; it's a political lesson. Elections are won long before election day through grassroots structure, mobilisation, and voter confidence."

Darey explained why the APC will continue to win the election:

"APC will continue winning the offline election while the wailers can continue winning their online election. Case settled, no fight for that now."

See the video of the announcement on X here:

APC denies endorsing Alex Otti

Legit.ng earlier reported that the APC denied reports that Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu endorsed Governor Otti's re-election bid.

Uche Aguoru, the APC spokesperson in Abia, labelled the endorsement claim as misleading and malicious propaganda.

The APC also condemned the partisan use of traditional rulers for political support in the upcoming elections.