In a fiercely contested election, Jagaba Adams Jagaba,
leader of the northern caucus in the House of
Representatives and a close ally of Speaker Aminu Waziru
Tambuwal, has defeated Danjuma Akuso of the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) to claim a seat in the House of
Representatives representing the Kachia/Kagarko federal
constituency. The Presidency had backed Mr. Akuso heavily in
the election, now claimed by Mr. Jagaba, a member of the All
Progressives Congress (APC).
Mr. Jagaba, who chairs the House of Reps committee on
Drugs/Narcotics and Financial Crimes, last year defected to
the APC from the PDP after clashing with close associates of
Vice President Namadi Sambo, who also hails from Kaduna
State.
Moses Mamman, the returning officer of the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC), announced that Mr.
Jagaba polled 48876 votes while Mr. Akuso received 44148
votes.
An INEC source in Abuja told a correspondent of
SaharaReporters that several associates of Vice President
Sambo, led by the Director General of National Emergency
Management Agency (NEMA) and Governor Mukhtar Ramalan
Yero, had made futile efforts to stop the electoral body from
announcing the victory of Mr. Jagaba.
The source added that INEC’s returning officer successfully
resisted pressures to falsify the results of the election.
Mr. Jagaba is the only APC member from Southern Kaduna
zone of Kaduna State.