Low turnout dominates Kano Assembly bye-election as absence of major parties bites

Voter apathy overshadowed Saturday’s bye-election into the Kano State House of Assembly for vacant seats in Ungogo and Kano Municipal local government areas, despite the peaceful conduct of the exercise across polling units.

Field observations showed that officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) arrived early with both sensitive and non-sensitive materials, while accreditation and voting commenced largely as scheduled. However, turnout remained significantly low in most of the centres visited as of late morning.

INEC officials said voting began around 8:30 a.m. in many polling units following the prompt deployment of materials.
At Pansau Ward 5, Polling Unit 008 in Ungogo LGA, accreditation and voting started at about 9:00 a.m., but only six voters had cast their ballots as of 10:36 a.m., highlighting the slow pace of participation.

A similar trend was recorded at Ungogo Kudu Polling Unit 015, where the Presiding Officer, Fatima Mohammed Sale, disclosed that just 77 voters had voted out of the 1,378 registered voters at the time of filing this report.
The situation was even less encouraging at Ungogo Kudu 1B, Polling Unit 029, where the Presiding Officer, Ashia Sani Dalha, said only three voters had cast their ballots out of the 54 expected voters as of 11:10 a.m.

Despite the poor turnout, the exercise was generally orderly, with security personnel deployed to strategic locations and electoral officials attending promptly to the few voters who turned up.

Nine political parties — A, ADP, APP, AAC, APC, APM, PRP, YPP and ZLP — are participating in the contest. However, the absence of three dominant political forces in the state — the African Democratic Congress (ADC), the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) — has been widely linked to the low voter turnout.

The parties were unable to field candidates due to internal leadership crises, a development observers believe reduced the competitiveness of the election and dampened public interest.

Speaking on the conduct of the poll, Abdu Zango, resident, electoral commissoner for Kano state, commended voters for their peaceful disposition and the absence of violence.
“As far as security is concerned, there is no issue. Citizens have behaved responsibly. There is no violence or threat whatsoever,” the official said.

He attributed the low turnout to a combination of factors, including the timing of the election and the perception that the contest involved only a few active political players.
“First, the timing — Ramadan is approaching. Second, the general feeling that this is a small election with limited participation by major parties,” he noted.

Responding to concerns over the non-participation of some opposition parties and allegations in certain quarters, the official maintained that INEC had not received any formal complaints.

“We do not decide who participates. Any party that conducts primaries, submits its candidate and meets the requirements of the Electoral Act will be on the ballot. The decision not to participate rests entirely with the parties,” he said.

The bye-election is being held to fill vacant legislative seats in the Kano State House of Assembly, with results expected to be announced by INEC after the completion of voting and collation.