2015 Kaduna State gubernatorial election

The 2015 Kaduna State gubernatorial election occurred on April 11, 2015.^[3] Nasir el-Rufai of the APC took a clear lead against the incumbent governor and PDP, Mukhtar Ramalan Yero candidate in the election.^[4][5][6][7] The APC candidate won in 17 LGAs, while the PDP claimed the other six.^{[8][9][10][11][12]}

2015 Kaduna State gubernatorial election

← 2011 April 11, 2015 2019 →
Turnout	0.51^[1]
Nominee Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai Mukhtar Ramalan Yero Party APC PDP Running mate Yusuf Barnabas Bala Nuhu Nyam Audu Bajoga^[2] Popular vote 1,117,635 485,833 Percentage 68.56% 29.80%
Governor before election Mukhtar Ramalan Yero PDP Elected Governor Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai APC

Earlier on, in January 2015, in a pre-election poll for the Kaduna gubernatorial elections organised by the ANAP Foundation, the result showed el-Rufai leading Yero by a gap of 26% in-between them; the former having 46% of total votes, and the latter 20%. 23% of the voters, however, remained indecisive.^[13]

Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai emerged winner in the APC gubernatorial primary election. His running mate was Yusuf Barnabas Bala.^[14]

Electoral system

The Governor of Kaduna State is elected using the plurality voting system.

Primary election

APC primary

The APC primary election began Thursday, December 4, 2014, ending early on Friday December 5, when results were announced at about 8:30 AM at the Kaduna International Trade Fair Complex where the event was held. Nasir el-Rufai overcame four other contenders, polling 1,965 votes to become the winner of the contest. There were a total of 3,557 accredited delegates, 3,546 total vote cast of which 3,518 were valid and 28 invalid, as reported the returning officer, Prince Ekenyem Orizu.^[15]

Candidates

• Party nominee: Nasir el-Rufai: Winner (1,965 votes)
• Running mate:
• Isah Ashiru: Runner-up (1,379 votes)
• Haruna Saeed: 2nd Runner-up (127 votes)
• Shamshudeen Abdullahi Ango: 3rd Runner-up (25 votes)
• Salihu Mohammed Lukman: 4th Runner-up (22 votes)

PDP primary

The PDP primary election was held at Murtala Square Kaduna on December 7, 2014. After all but one of the other aspirants stepped down for him, Mukhtar Ramalan Yero, the incumbent governor emerged with the highest votes, polling 970, while his only contender, Senator Haruna Aziz Zego, got a lone vote, out of a total of 972 delegate votes.^[16][17][18]

Candidates

• Party nominee: Mukhtar Ramalan Yero: Incumbent governor.
• Running mate:
• Haruna Zego: Runner-up
• Ajeye Bako: Withdrew
• Lawal Yakawada: Withdrew
• Felix Hyatt: Withdrew

Results

A total of 14 candidates registered with the Independent National Electoral Commission to contest in the election. The PDP candidate scored the highest, polling a total of 1,117,635 votes to oust the APC contestant and incumbent governor, who emerged second with 485,833 votes, while the APGA candidate came third, with 20,140 votes.^[3][19][20] There were 3,357,469 registered voters across the state, out of which 1,710,935 were accredited, but just 1,660,109 voted, according to the INEC Returning Officer.^[8]

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Nasir el-Rufai	All Progressives Congress (APC)	1,117,635	68.56
	Mukhtar Ramalan Yero	People's Democratic Party (PDP)	485,833	29.80
	Polycarp Danladi G.	All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA)	20,140	1.24
	Muhammadu Ribadu	African Peoples Alliance (APA)	2,621	0.16
	Alhaji Kabir Ahmed Jibril	Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA)	966	0.06
	Alhaji Nayaya Mohammed Lawal	People for Democratic Change (PDC)	923	0.06
	Bala Mohammed Yunusa	African Democratic Congress (ADC)	676	0.04
	Isa Adamu Abdullahi	National Conscience Party (NCP)	321	0.02
	Garba Muhammed Suleiman	Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN)	281	0.02
	Nehemiah Sunday	United Democratic Party (UDP)	187	0.01
	Sani Abdulkadir	New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP)	170	0.01
	Abdul Ahmed Isiaq	Social Democratic Party (SDP)	123	0.01
	Alhaji Lawal Yusuf	United Party of Nigeria (UPN)	109	0.01
	Mohammed Sani Ahmed	Peoples Party of Nigeria (PPN)	95	0.01
Total			1,630,080	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			3,357,469	–
Source: Channels TV,^[8] Google,^[21] The Cable^[22]

By local government area

The results of the election by local government area are here, representing the two major contenders. The total valid votes of 1,629,157 represents the 14 political parties that participated in the election. Green represents LGAs won by Yero. Blue represents LGAs won by el-Rufai.^{[23][4][8][24][25]}

County (LGA)	Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai APC		Mukhtar Ramalan Yero PDP		Total Votes
	#	%	#	%	#
Birnin Gwari
Chikun	36,920		27,248
Giwa	48,248		14,197
Igabi	88,361		20,180
Ikara	37,521		16,836
Jaba
Jema'a	39,760		45,272
Kachia
Kaduna North	106,915		12,465
Kaduna South	120,535		15,665
Kagarko	24,846		15,413
Kajuru	18,522		21,296
Kaura	37,521		16,836
Kauru
Kubau	53,934		14,034
Kudan
Lere
Makarfi	37,759		11,084
Sabon Gari	61,107		12,504
Sanga
Soba	55,836		12,743
Zangon Kataf
Zaria
Totals	1,117,635		485,833		1,629,157

References

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6. "Buhari's APC winning big in Nigeria governorship polls". Daily Sabah. April 13, 2015. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
7. . WhoWin. Archived from the original on April 30, 2021. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
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10. "About the State: Kaduna State". Kaduna State Government. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
11. Bergstresser, Heinrich (May 8, 2017). A Decade of Nigeria: Politics, Economy and Society 2004-2016. ISBN 9789004347410. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
12. Bergstresser, Heinrich (2017). "Nigeria in 2015". A Decade of Nigeria. Brill. pp. 266–289. doi:10.1163/9789004347410_013. ISBN 9789004347410. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
13. "PRESS RELEASE | Kaduna State Governorship Election Poll". ANAP Foundation. January 29, 2014. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
14. Emmanuel, Odang. "State Governors and Their Deputies". Rainbow Nigeria. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
15. Binniyat, Luka; Etim, Mayen (December 5, 2014). "2015: El-Rufai grabs Kaduna APC guber ticket". Vanguard. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
16. Lere, Mohammed (December 8, 2014). "2015: Yero defeats Aziz in Kaduna PDP gubernatorial primary". Premium Times. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
17. "PDP Governorship Primaries: Ribadu, Folarin, Okowa, Agbaje, others win". Lagos: Vanguard. December 9, 2014. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
18. "Update: PDP Governorship primaries". The Nation Online. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
19. "Results from governorship elections [LIVE UPDATES]". Daily Post. April 12, 2015. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
20. "2015 General Elections | Governorship Election Results". Stears. Retrieved April 28, 2021.
21. "2015 Governorship Final List". Retrieved March 6, 2021.
22. Oputah, David (April 13, 2015). "APC 19 – 7 PDP… Results of 2015 gov election". The Cable. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
23. D., Ife. "Updated Governorship Election results for Borno, Gombe, Kaduna, Kano, Kastina etc… – See who is leading!". InfoNG. Retrieved April 29, 2021.
24. "Nasir El Rufai Of APC Wins Kaduna By A Landslide". New York: Sahara Reporters. April 12, 2015. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
25. "#NigeriaDecides 2015: Governorship and State House of Assembly Elections Results – LIVE UPDATES". Guardian Online. April 11, 2015. Retrieved March 4, 2021.