Jigawa Shifts Council Polls To Next Year

By Mohammed Abubakar Dutse

The Jigawa State Independent Electoral Commission (JISIEC) on Wednesday confirmed the postponement of the local government council election by one year.

Consequently, the elections which were originally scheduled to hold at the end of June would now hold on Saturday June 14, 2025.

The Chairman of the commission, Alhaji Muhammad Auwalu Harbo, who confirmed the postponement while briefing stakeholders at the commission’s headquarters, cited the 2022 Electoral Act, which provided 360 days as the previous 90 days as notice for political parties to prepare for subsequent local government elections.

The development is coming few days after the state chapter of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) raised an alarm accusing the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of colluding with the JISIEC to impose Sole Administrators on the 27 local government areas of the state.

But Harbo, while addressing the stakeholders, including leadership of the political parties said the decision was purely to comply with the spirit and letters of the Electoral Act, saying doing anything on the contrary would amount to violating the law.

Besides he confirmed that the decision had the input of the political parties on the need to follow due process . He said, “While preparing the conduct of this year’s elections, (2024) received series of requests from different groups of people, including political parties and Inter Party Advisory Council, (IPAC) Jigawa State chapter for the Commission to request the amendment of the state electoral law 2012 to reflect the mandatory requirements of 360 days.”