Malam Umar Namadi of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has been declared the winner of the Jigawa gubernatorial election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The Returning Officer for the poll, Prof. Umar Zaiyan of Federal University Birnin Kebbi, announced the result on Sunday in Dutse, stating that Namadi scored 618,449 votes to defeat his closest rival, Mr Mustapha Sule Lamido, who polled 368,726 votes.

Out of the 1.05 million votes cast in the March 18 election, Namadi secured a total of 1.03 million valid votes, while Malam Aminu Ringim of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) clinched 37,156 votes.

However, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had earlier called the returning officer to declare a section of the election inconclusive. Still, their agent declined to endorse the result sheets containing the scores of each candidate in the gubernatorial contest.

Namadi, a 60-year-old politician and chartered accountant, has satisfied the requirements of the Law and is declared the winner of the Jigawa governorship election, according to Zaiyan.

This outcome marks a significant victory for the APC and a clear mandate for Namadi to lead the state.