The All Progressives Congress (APC) has won the Ungogo and Kano Municipal State Assembly bye-elections held on Saturday.

APC candidate, Aliyu Nabil Daneji, in Kano Municipal Constituency, scored 7,484 votes to win the seat and will represent the constituency in the Kano State House of Assembly.

The Returning Officer, Professor Ibrahim Tajo Siraj, announced the result and declared Daneji duly elected.

Also, in Ungogo Constituency, the APC candidate, Aminu Sa’ad Sa’ad, secured 8,975 votes to clinch the seat.

The Returning Officer for the constituency, Professor Ali Tijjani Abdullahi, declared Sa’ad the winner and returned him elected.

Recalls that major opposition parties, including the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the African Democratic Congress (ADC), were not on the ballot.

However, there was mass voter apathy during the elections.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Kano State, Ambassador Abdu Zango, attributed the low voter turnout recorded during the polls to the timing of the elections and limited participation by political parties.

Speaking to journalists while monitoring the exercise, Zango described the elections as generally peaceful, though marked by low participation in several polling units.

“First of all, I think the timing, maybe Ramadan. Second, I think the general feeling is that this is a very small election involving only two candidates and very few parties. Nine contestants, I think,” he said.

SolaceBase reports that the seats became vacant following the sudden deaths of the lawmakers representing Ungogo Constituency, Aminu Sa’ad, and Kano Municipal Constituency, Sarki Aliyu Daneji, who passed away on the same day.

The winners in the by-elections are the sons of the deceased lawmakers — Aminu Sa’ad Sa’ad (Ungogo) and Aliyu Nabil Daneji (Kano Municipal).