Bala Mohammed Defeats Former Air Chief, Reelected Bauchi Gov

Governor Bala Mohammed has been reelected as the governor of Bauchi State for another four-year term.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the March 18, 2023 poll was declared the winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Mohammed polled 525,280 to trounce his closest rival and the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar who polled 432,272. Abubakar is Nigeria’s immediate past Chief of Air Staff.

“That Mohammed Bala Abdulkadir of PDP having satisfied the requirement of the law is hereby returned elected,” declared INEC Returning Officer, Prof Abdulkareem Mohammed on Monday morning.

Officially, eight of the 11 governors who sought reelection in the March 18 polls held across Nigeria in West Africa have been declared winners by INEC to return to office for another four-year term each.

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They are Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State, Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State, Governor Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State, Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State, Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State and Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State.

Also, five newcomers have won governorship elections in the country — Umo Eno in Akwa Ibom State, Umar Namadi in Jigawa State, Dikko Radda in Katsina State, and Ahmed Aliyu Sokoto in Sokoto State.

Of the 13 winners declared so far in the March 18 governorship poll, nine of them belong to the ruling party, the APC, three are members of the PDP and one is a member of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP). The election in Kebbi was declared inconclusive by the electoral body.

Of the 28 states, 11 serving governors sought reelection while 17 outgoing governors are in the final weeks of their constitutional two-term limits of eight years, having been sworn in on May 29, 2015.