LAGOS (Reuters) – Nigeria’s electoral commission on Sunday suspended the announcement of results in the Adamawa state governorship election and said the declaration of Aisha Dahiru as the first governor of – the state elected woman of the country was null and void.
Nigerians voted for state governors on March 11 but the election in Adamawa, a largely conservative Muslim state, was inconclusive and by-polls were held on Saturday in 69 constituencies of -voting where just over 36,000 voters were registered.
Dahiru, the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress party, has been held up as a trailblazer who could pave the way for more women to seek political office in Nigeria.
She was declared the winner on Sunday by the resident electoral commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) with half of the districts yet to announce their results.
INEC quickly declared that result null and void, saying the official had no power to make such an announcement.
(Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by David Goodman)
