APC Candidate Aiki Wins Kebbi Assembly By-Election in Zuru

The All Progressives Congress retained its grip on the Zuru State Constituency seat in Kebbi State following Saturday's by-election, with candidate Rabiu Garba Aiki securing victory. The Independent National Electoral Commission declared Aiki the winner after the collation of results at the state constituency centre in Birnin Kebbi, where university official Prof.

Muhammad Bashar Danladi presided as returning officer. Aiki's margin of victory was substantial.

He polled between 4,871 and 4,887 votes—sources vary slightly on the exact figure—while his closest rival, Aliyu Galadima Muhammad of the Labour Party, managed only 168 votes. The APC candidate's dominance was evident across all ten wards of the constituency, with his strongest performance recorded in Rafin Zuru ward, where he garnered 1,042 votes compared to the Labour Party's 63 votes in that area.

The by-election was called to fill a vacancy created by the death of former Kebbi State House of Assembly Speaker Muhammad Usman Zuru. Despite the peaceful nature of the election, voter participation remained low.

Out of 109,385 registered voters across the Zuru Local Government Area's 200 polling units, only 5,156 ballots were cast. Election officials validated 5,055 votes while rejecting 95 ballots as invalid.

The victory extends the APC's control of this assembly seat and demonstrates the party's continued electoral strength in Kebbi State, even as participation challenges persist in local electoral contests.