By Yusuf Idris Gusau
It is no longer news that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which prides itself as the governing political platform in Zamfara State, lost in the recent by-election for Kaura-Namoda South State Assembly Constituency.
The so-called governing party has been nursing the wound inflicted on it from that exercise, and there is no doubt that the pain will linger for long because the wound, as many followers of the political development in the state predicted, will not heal.
Before the poll, they boasted a landslide. “It will be a walkover,” they had assured their supporters. But the party and its leadership knew deep down the assurance was just another scam. They were aware that the scale was tilted against them; they were not and are still not on ground, and as expected, they got trounced, overwhelmingly so.
Not even the attack dogs they armed and deployed could save them from the resounding defeat in the hands of the people whose mandate they stole in 2023, and then betrayed by the administration’s failure to fulfill its promises of ending insecurity, bettering the standard of living of the people as well ensuring massive development at all fronts. The people were on a revenge mission during the by-election, and they vent their disillusionment with the government that has become nothing but a fraud.
It was a victory for the All Progressives Congress (APC), when the country’s electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared its candidate, Malam Kamilu Sa’idu, the winner of the poll after two spirited runs.
The Returning Officer, Prof. Lawal Sa’adu of the Federal University Gusau announced the results around 1:30 a.m. that fateful Thursday. According to him, the APC polled a total of 8,182 votes, while the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) scored 5,543 votes from the nine wards in the constituency.
“Having satisfied the requirements of the law and scored the highest number of valid votes, Kamilu Sa’idu of the APC is hereby declared winner and returned elected,” Sa’adu had announced
Before the APC’s victory, the initial election, which was held on Saturday, August 16, 2025, was declared inconclusive by INEC due to irregularities in five polling units in Sakajiki and Kyambarawa. A supplementary election was subsequently scheduled and conducted on Thursday, August 21, 2025, to conclude the process.
In the earlier results before the rerun, the APC was leading with 7,001 votes, while the PDP had 5,339 votes. Now, a look at what PDP got from the supplementary exercise showed just a few votes from what they had earlier-5,339 to 5,543, while APC got over a thousand.
The outcome indicated that the so-called ruling party in the state tried desperately to create anarchy in the affected area because it knew it would not make any headway. However, INEC and the heads of security agencies in the state acted promptly and decisively to halt the anomaly and shifted the exercise. This is why we must commend the umpire and security agencies for rising up to defend our democracy and electoral process.
It is imperative to note that the PDP has feared the outcome will not favour them due to the rising insecurity and worked behind the scene to shift the election date but their effort did not yield the desired result.
Recall that the same insecurity was their trump card used during the electioneering campaign in the run-up to the 2023 general elections with its then candidate, Dauda Lawal, who is now the incumbent governor, promising to end it in his first two to three weeks in office. But almost three years down the line, his action and inaction have further exacerbated the anomaly with recurring daily attacks, which always leave tales of deaths and destruction behind.
It is disheartening that instead of addressing the problem, Dauda Lawal is busy playing politics with it, blaming his supposed enemies while breeding thugs he unleashes at the
slightest provocation.
The same thugs and the outlawe
