Zamfara: Matawalle’s Former Adviser Defeats Governor Dauda Lawal’s PDP in Resounding Bye-Election Victory

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Kamilu Sa’idu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the Kaura-Namoda South State Constituency bye-election, delivering a crushing blow to Governor Dauda Lawal’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The Returning Officer, Lawal Sa’adu of the Federal University Gusau, announced that Sa’idu polled 1,181 votes in the supplementary election, defeating PDP’s Muhammad Lawal Kurya, who scored 194 votes.

Across the constituency, the APC secured a total of 8,182 votes, while the PDP managed 5,544.

“Kamilu Sa’idu of the APC, having scored the highest number of votes, is hereby declared the winner and returned elected,” Sa’adu stated.

The supplementary election, conducted in Sakajiki (two polling units) and Kyambarawa (three polling units), followed an inconclusive by-election last Saturday at the Kasuwar Daji collation center.

The rerun was necessitated as the initial margin of 1,662 votes between the leading candidates was less than the 3,265 Permanent Voter Cards collected in the affected polling units.

Sa’idu, a former Special Adviser to ex-Governor Bello Matawalle, will now represent Kaura-Namoda South in the Zamfara State House of Assembly.

His victory is seen as a direct rebuke of Governor Lawal’s administration, which has been plagued by allegations of incompetence and escalating insecurity since 2023.

Despite Lawal’s claims of a guaranteed PDP victory, the results exposed his administration’s waning influence.

Reports indicate that Lawal deployed state-backed Zamfara Vigilante operatives to polling units, defying federal warnings against such tactics.

These efforts to intimidate voters and manipulate the process were resoundingly rejected by the electorate, who delivered a decisive mandate to the APC.

Lawal’s last-ditch campaign efforts, including two weeks of intense mobilization and accusations against the APC and his predecessors, fell flat.

The bye-election marks a historic low for Lawal, the first Zamfara governor to lose a bye-election, with the PDP securing only six wards.