By Prosper Okoye
The All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial primary rerun for Zamfara North has generated fresh controversy following the announcement of two conflicting results, with party officials declaring different aspirants winners of Monday’s exercise.
Senator Tijjani Yahaya Kaura was declared winner by Sani Abdullahi, a member of the senatorial primary election committee, after polling 16,758 votes. However, the committee’s chairman, Dr Auwal Abdullahi Aliyu, announced a different result, declaring the incumbent senator, Sahabi Alhaji Ya’u, winner with 49,176 votes.
The conflicting declarations have cast uncertainty over the APC’s eventual candidate for Zamfara North Senatorial District in the 2027 general election.
According to the result announced by Abdullahi, Kaura defeated Ya’u, who was credited with 1,465 votes, while another aspirant, Sani Abdullahi Shinkafi, scored 1,447 votes.
Abdullahi said Kaura secured the highest number of valid votes and satisfied the requirements for nomination under the APC constitution and the party’s electoral guidelines.
However, in the result announced by Aliyu, Ya’u polled 49,176 votes to emerge winner, while Kaura received 9,628 votes and Shinkafi scored 2,602 votes.
The two declarations present substantially different figures and outcomes, making it difficult to establish the authentic result of the rerun without an official clarification from the party.
The rerun was also marred by violence at voting centres in Kaura Namoda Local Government Area, where suspected political thugs reportedly attacked two locations, including Namoda Model Primary School and a polling unit in Galadima Dangaladima Ward.
The incidents reportedly forced voters and residents to flee, while one person was seriously injured during a confrontation. The chairman of Kaura Namoda Local Government Council, Mannir Muhammad Haidara, was also reportedly attacked, with his vehicle damaged. He was said to have escaped with the intervention of security personnel.
There were also reports of an attack on police personnel deployed to provide security for the exercise along the Sokoto-Gusau road, although details of the incident and casualties were not independently established.
The legal dispute that necessitated the rerun arose from the APC primary conducted on May 19, 2026. Shinkafi had challenged the exercise in court, alleging irregularities and failure to comply with the party’s electoral guidelines.
On August 31, the Federal High Court in Gusau nullified the earlier primary and ordered the APC to conduct a fresh election. Senator Ya’u challenged the judgment, but the Court of Appeal sitting in Sokoto dismissed his appeal on October 20, upholding the lower court’s decision.
The rerun was subsequently scheduled for November 2, with the three aspirants contesting the party’s ticket.
The contest has also exposed divisions within the Zamfara APC, with Ya’u associated with the political camp of former governor and Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, while Kaura is linked to the camp of former governor Abdul’aziz Yari, who is the Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council.
Both Ya’u and Kaura hail from Galadima Dangaladima Ward in Kaura Namoda Local Government Area. Kaura previously represented Zamfara North in the Senate and served as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs under former President Muhammadu Buhari.
With the two conflicting declarations and discrepancies in the announced figures, the APC’s national leadership faces the task of establishing the authentic outcome of the court-ordered rerun and determining which of the aspirants will eventually represent the party in the 2027 senatorial election.
The party has yet to issue a definitive clarification resolving the rival declarations.
