Darius Ishaku, the gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) has been re-elected governor of Taraba state.
This extends PDP dominance in the state to 20 years as the
party has never lost a governorship election in the state since 1999.
Shehu Iya, the state returning officer and professor
atModibo Adama University, Yola, declared the PDP candidate winner on Tuesday
morning at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) office in
Jalingo.
According to Iya, the incumbent governor and PDP candidate
polled a total of 520,433 votes, while Sani Danladi, the All Progressives
Congress (APC) candidate garnered 362,735 votes to his name.
Ishaku won 11 LGAs, including Takum, Zing, Yorro, Kai, Bali,
Donga, Wukari, Bali, Gashaka, Kurmi and Ussa LGAs, while his prime challenger
won Jalingo, Gassol, Ibbi and Karim Lami.
Hassan Mijinyawa, Ishaku’s chief press secretary, via a
statement on Monday, said the governor had imposed a dusk to dawn curfew on the
state capital, Jalingo, without stating the reasons for the curfew.
The curfew, however, exempts staff of the electoral
commission and key agents and observers.
“The curfew will run from 6 am to 6 pm daily, however, some
INEC officials, key Agents of political parties and observers involved in the collation
of the election results are exempted,” the statement read.
“Governor Ishiaku enjoined the people of the state to
continue to be law-abiding as he urged security agencies to ensure strict
compliance.”