User:Watercheetah99/2020 Nigerian state legislative elections

The 2020 Nigerian state legislative elections were called to fill vacant seats in state Houses of Assembly.

Background
The 991 members of the 36 state Houses of Assembly are elected from single-seat constituencies using first-past-the-post voting; when vacancies occur, by-elections (or bye-elections) are called, scheduled, and administered by the Independent National Electoral Commission. New elections are also called if the general election was annulled by a court or election tribunal with these elections being referred to as supplementary elections if the election is only held in certain polling units and as rerun elections if the election held throughout the entire constituency.

Abi State Constituency supplementary election
In February 2019, Alex Egbona of the APC won the regularly scheduled election for the Abi State Constituency; however, the Election Petitions Tribunal later disqualified Abdullahi and annulled the election. In January, INEC announced that the APC would not be allowed to nominate a new nominee as only eligible nominees from the annulled election would be allowed to run, it also set the date for the by-election for January 25. Bello Ahmed, the PDP nominee, defeated the ACD's Aliyu Yusuf Kwanji by 43% and over 4,000 votes.

Obudu State Constituency by-election
On June 18, 2020, the member for Obudu, Godwin Akwaji (PDP) died from an undisclosed illness suspected to be COVID-19. In August, INEC set the date for the by-election for October 31 with party primaries taking place between August 24 and September 8 in alignment with 11 other by-elections nationwide. However, on October 22, INEC postponed all 12 elections due to unrest before announcing the new date of December 5 in November. The PDP nominee and widow of Godwin Akwaji, Maria Akwaji defeated the APC's Godwin Agbor by 79% and nearly 30,000 votes. The election was conducted peacefully but had low turnout according to journalists, at 28.75%.

Bakori State Constituency by-election
On May 11, 2020, the member for Bakori, Abdulrazak Ismail Tsiga (APC) died from an undisclosed illness. In August, INEC set the date for the by-election for October 31 with party primaries taking place between August 24 and September 8 in alignment with 11 other by-elections nationwide. However, on October 22, INEC postponed all 12 elections due to unrest before announcing the new date of December 5 in November. The APC nominee Ibrahim Aminu defeated the PDP's Aminu Magaji by 27% and over 9,000 votes. The election was conducted peacefully according to journalists but had low turnout, at 27.58%.

Ibaji State Constituency by-election
On June 4, 2020, the member for Ibaji, John Abah (APC) died from an undisclosed illness. In August, INEC set the date for the by-election for October 31 with party primaries taking place between August 24 and September 8 in alignment with 11 other by-elections nationwide. However, on October 22, INEC postponed all 12 elections due to unrest before announcing the new date of December 5 in November. The APC nominee Atule Egbunu defeated the PDP's Daniel Enefola by 17% and nearly 4,000 votes. The election was conducted peacefully according to journalists but had low turnout, at 19.73%.

In January 2021, the Federal High Court disqualified Egbunu due to improper processes in the APC primary after a lawsuit by another candidate in the primary and awarded the win to Daniel Enefola. In March 2021, INEC presented the Certificate of Return to Enefola. However, a Court of Appeal overturned the High Court ruling in April 2021 and ordered INEC to reissue the Certificate of Return to Egbunu.

Patigi State Constituency by-election
On December 3, 2019, the member for Patigi, Saidu Rufai (APC) died from an undisclosed illness. In February, INEC set the date for the by-election for March 14 with party primaries taking place between February 10 and February 16 in alignment with 3 other by-elections nationwide. The APC nominee and brother of Saidu Rufai, Adam Ahmed Rufai defeated the PDP's Mohammed Yahaya by 17% and nearly 6,000 votes. The election was conducted peacefully according to journalists but had low turnout, at 27.87%.

In September 2020, the Kwara State House of Assembly Rerun Election Petition Tribunal disqualified Rufai due to discrepancies in Rufai's documentation on whether his name was "Adam" or "Adamu" and awarded the win to Mohammed Yahaya. However, a Court of Appeal overturned the Tribunal's ruling in November and returned the mandate to Adam Rufai.

Kosofe II State Constituency by-election
On July 10, 2020, the member for Kosofe II, Tunde Braimoh (APC) died from an undisclosed illness suspected to be COVID-19. In August, INEC set the date for the by-election for October 31 with party primaries taking place between August 24 and September 8 in alignment with 11 other by-elections nationwide. However, on October 22, INEC postponed all 12 elections due to unrest before announcing the new date of December 5 in November. The APC nominee, Femi Saheed, held the seat by defeating the PDP's Sikiru Alebiosu by 80% and over 10,000 votes. The election was marred by very low voter turnout, at 5.4%.

Nasarawa Central State Constituency by-election
On April 30, 2020, the member for Nasarawa Central, Suleiman Adamu (APC) died from COVID-19. In June, INEC set the date for the by-election for August 8 with party primaries taking place between June 30 and July 6. The APC nominee, Ismail Danbaba, held the seat by defeating the PDP's Bage Nuhu by 24% and nearly 3,000 votes. The election had 17.22% turnout and was conducted successfully according to party officials.

Agwara State Constituency rerun election
In February 2019, Ahmed Abdullahi of the APC won the regularly scheduled election for the Agwara State Constituency; however, the Election Petitions Tribunal later disqualified Abdullahi and annulled the election. In January, INEC announced that the APC would not be allowed to nominate a new nominee as only eligible nominees from the annulled election would be allowed to run, it also set the date for the by-election for January 25. Bello Ahmed, the PDP nominee, defeated the ACD's Aliyu Yusuf Kwanji by 43% and over 4,000 votes.

Kebbe State Constituency by-election
On December 30, 2019, the member for Kebbe, Isah Harisu (APC) died from an undisclosed illness. In February, INEC set the date for the by-election for March 14 with party primaries taking place between February 10 and February 16 in alignment with 3 other by-elections nationwide. On March 4, APC nominee Abubakar Bello Umar announced his withdrawal from the by-election and endorsement of PDP nominee Abubakar Adamu; his name remained on the ballot despite the APC's attempts to replace him. The PDP nominee, Abubakar Adamu, flipped the seat by defeating the APC's Abubakar Bello Umar by over 95% and over 15,000 votes. The election had 30.84% turnout.

Bakura State Constituency by-election
On May 31, 2020, the member for Bakura, Tukur Jekada (PDP) died from an undisclosed illness. In August, INEC set the date for the by-election for October 31 with party primaries taking place between August 24 and September 8 in alignment with 11 other by-elections nationwide. However, on October 22, INEC postponed all 12 elections due to unrest before announcing the new date of December 5 in November. On December 5, early reports of a high turnout and successful voting contrasted with later reports of 3 people dead after APC and PDP supporters clashed in Bakura, the unrest along with ballot snatching and attacks on INEC staff led INEC to cancel voting in 14 polling units and declare the election inconclusive.

On December 6, INEC set December 9 for the supplementary election in the 14 polling outstanding units. On December 8, the state APC announced its intention to boycott the supplementary election, claiming to have lost confidence in INEC and law enforcement due to the conduct of the original election date. After the supplementary election, final results showed Ibrahim Tukur, the PDP nominee, defeating runner-up Bello Dankande (APC) by 18% and over 7,000 votes. The day after the election, APC began litigation against INEC and the PDP, seeking to hold another by-election due to alleged fraud but on May 29, 2021, a 3-judge panel of a election petition tribunal dismissed the APC's case and upheld Tukur's election. The election ultimately had 47.04% turnout.