The New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) has firmly rejected the outcome of the Ghari/Tsanyawa State Assembly re-run election conducted on Saturday, August 16, 2025, in Kano State, alleging widespread manipulation and collusion by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in favour of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
According to the official announcement by the Returning Officer, Professor Muhammad Waziri, the APC candidate, Garba Ya’u Gwarmai, emerged winner of the keenly contested election with 31,472 votes.
He was said to have defeated his closest rival, Yusuf Ali Maigado of the NNPP, who polled 27,931 votes.
Reacting to the declaration, the NNPP accused INEC of subverting the people’s will and deliberately undermining the credibility of the electoral process.
The party argued that the results announced did not reflect the outcome of the votes cast in the affected polling units.
Speaking at a press conference in Kano on Sunday, the NNPP State Chairman, Comrade Hashimu Dungurawa, alleged that INEC “denied the electorate their rights” by manipulating figures and announcing results favouring the APC candidate.
He faulted the electoral umpire for “conniving with unpatriotic politicians” to frustrate the people’s mandate.
Dungurawa explained that the Court of Appeal specifically ordered the re-run to be conducted in 10 polling units within the constituency.
He claimed that despite the peaceful conduct of the re-run exercise in those areas, INEC shockingly cancelled the fresh results and reverted to the earlier results that had already been nullified by the court.
“In Ghari local government, the re-run was conducted peacefully at all 10 polling units. However, through manipulation by some politicians who colluded with INEC officials, the APC candidate was wrongly declared the winner,” Dungurawa alleged.
The NNPP also condemned the decision of INEC to announce the election results at its state headquarters in Kano instead of the constituency collation centre.
According to the party, this unusual procedure created loopholes that enabled “gross manipulation” of the figures.
Vowing to resist what it described as “injustice, electoral fraud, and favouritism,” the NNPP insisted that presiding officers had already signed authentic results from the re-run, which should have been upheld.
The party maintained that it would not allow the rights of its supporters to be trampled upon.
Interestingly, while rejecting the outcome of the Ghari/Tsanyawa election, the NNPP expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the Shanono/Bagwai by-election held on the same day. Its candidate was declared the winner in that contest, which the party described as free, fair, and credible.
The party praised the security agencies for maintaining law and order during the Shanono/Bagwai poll and commended the resilience of its supporters across Kano State.
“We salute the courage of our people who stood by us and voted massively for the NNPP candidates in all the re-run and by-elections,” Dungurawa added.
As of the time this report was filed, neither INEC nor the APC had officially responded to the NNPP’s allegations.