APC Senatorial candidate concedes defeat to NNPP in Kano South

Kano South Senatorial District’s All Progressives Congress (APC) senator, Kabiru Gaya, has conceded defeat to Kawu Sumaila of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).

Sumaila has won the senatorial seat for the zone.

Gaya released a statement on Monday in Kano congratulating Sumaila and described his victory as the will of Allah. Gaya said he would not contest what Allah has decreed.

Kabiru Gaya

“I thank the Almighty Allah for giving me the chance to represent my people since 1999 in the upper chambers,” Gaya said in the statement.

He also commended his constituents for giving him the opportunity to serve them and urged them to support Sumaila to move the constituency and the state forward.

Sumaila, a former Senior Special Assistant to the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on National Assembly Matters (House of Representatives), secured 319,857 votes, while Gaya secured 192,518 votes.

The NNPP candidate was declared the winner of the Kano South Senatorial District election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Kawu Sumaila has been a loyalist of President Buhari since he was a military dictator in the 1980s. He was also a member of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), which later merged with other parties to form the APC.

The senator-elect had contested the seat under the banner of the APC in the 2019 general elections but lost to Gaya. However, in the November 2020 bye-election for the seat, Sumaila defected to the NNPP and contested the seat again. This time, he was victorious.

The Kano South Senatorial District comprises 11 local government areas, including Ajingi, Albasu, Bagwai, Bichi, Dambatta, Gabasawa, Gwarzo, Kunchi, Makoda, Rogo, and Tudun Wada.