Zamfara North APC primary: two committees declare two different winners — Kaura and Ya'u
The All Progressives Congress (APC) held a court-ordered fresh senatorial primary for Zamfara North on Monday 2 November 2026, ahead of the 2027 general elections — and got two different winners. Committee member Sani Abdullahi announced Tijjani Yahaya Kaura the winner with 16,758 votes; the committee's chairman, Dr Auwal Abdullahi Aliyu, announced the incumbent senator, Sahabi Alhaji Ya'u, the winner with 49,176 votes. The two declarations cannot both be right, and the party's national leadership has not yet said which one stands. The rerun was ordered after the Court of Appeal in Sokoto upheld a ruling that nullified the first primary over irregularities.
Checking in progress
This story is still being checked. Claims below are published as claims — never dressed as facts — and each one moves only when the evidence earns it.
- Collecting reportsDone
- Grouping the versionsDone
- 3Checking claims3 of 4 claims checked
- 4Human gateStill to come
3 of 4 claims checked so far · step 3 of 4: Checking claims
Key points
- One primary, two winners: Kaura declared in with 16,758 votes by a committee member; Ya'u declared in with 49,176 by the committee chairman.
- The figures cannot both be right — each declaration's own numbers contradict its totals, and the APC nationally has not yet said which declaration stands.
- The rerun was court-ordered after judges nullified the first primary; Radio Nigeria also reports one death amid tension, which no second source has yet confirmed.
What happened
Zamfara North's APC ticket has been fought over in court for months: the first primary in May made Ya'u, the sitting senator, the candidate; Shinkafi's challenge voided it, and the courts ordered Monday's rerun. The rivalry maps onto Zamfara's two big APC camps — Ya'u is associated with former governor Bello Matawalle's camp and Kaura with former governor Abdul'aziz Yari's, according to Newscount's account.
Instead of settling the ticket, the rerun split the very committee sent to run it: its chairman and one of its members walked away with different results, in different places, and both camps are holding their ground while the party's national leadership stays silent.
Both sides, in their own words
Both sides heard. Neither believed for free. Publishing a side's version is not endorsing it — the claim checks below are where verdicts live.
Side A · The Kaura declaration (committee member Sani Abdullahi)
- Tijjani Yahaya Kaura won with 16,758 votes, ahead of Sahabi Alhaji Ya'u on 1,465 and Sani Abdullahi Shinkafi on 1,447 — from a register of 23,257 voters, with 19,608 accredited and 19,292 valid votes recorded.
- Kaura himself insists he remains the duly declared candidate, saying the primary across Kaura Namoda, Birnin Magaji, Shinkafi and Zurmi was a convincing victory for him.
Side B · The Ya'u declaration (committee chairman Dr Auwal Abdullahi Aliyu)
- Sahabi Alhaji Ya'u, the incumbent senator, won with 49,176 votes, ahead of Tijjani Yahaya Kaura on 9,628 and Sani Abdullahi Shinkafi on 2,602.
- Aliyu said Ya'u had met the requirements of the APC constitution and the party's primary-election guidelines by securing the highest number of votes, and declared him the party's candidate.
Independently verified
Two rival declarations came out of Monday's rerun primary: Sani Abdullahi, a member of the committee assigned to conduct the election, announced Tijjani Yahaya Kaura as winner with 16,758 votes (Ya'u 1,465; Shinkafi 1,447), saying 23,257 voters were registered, 19,608 accredited and 19,292 valid votes recorded; separately, the committee's chairman, Dr Auwal Abdullahi Aliyu, announced Sahabi Alhaji Ya'u as winner with 49,176 votes (Kaura 9,628; Shinkafi 2,602). The rerun happened because the courts threw out the first primary: the Federal High Court in Gusau nullified the 19 May 2026 exercise on 31 August over irregularities, after Shinkafi challenged it, and the Court of Appeal in Sokoto dismissed Ya'u's appeal on 20 October and upheld the order for a fresh primary. The rerun was held on Monday 2 November across Zamfara North's four local government areas — Kaura Namoda, Birnin Magaji, Shinkafi and Zurmi.Not yet verified
Radio Nigeria reports the exercise was marred by tension in which one person, identified as Abbas Ones, died and several others were injured; that heavily armed security personnel blocked the road near the Army Command Guest House in Gusau as result documents were being transported from Kaura Namoda; and that the security personnel reportedly arrested the chairman and secretary of the APC national committee assigned to conduct the election, after which Abdullahi was mandated to collate and announce the results.Claim by claim
Why this label: That both declarations were made, with these figures, is reported identically by Radio Nigeria (the national broadcaster, read in full in this pass), Daily Trust, Newspot and Blueprint's reporting — the declarations are fact; which of them is the result is the disputed question below.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: The arithmetic gaps are computed from the declarations' own published figures (Newspot also flags the 19,670-versus-19,292 excess). Neither declaration is carried on this page as the result; the party's clarification is in the don't-know list.
On the ladder: credible sources conflict, so we show both workings. One side's own statement is that side's position — never proof.
Why this label: The court sequence is reported consistently by Radio Nigeria (the Court of Appeal affirming the Gusau ruling) and Newscount's fuller account (the 31 August nullification and the 20 October appeal dismissal); National Update adds that the appellate panel questioned how the earlier exercise could record about 70,000 votes for one aspirant in a district of about 26,000 registered party members.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Show all claims (1 more)
Why this label: All of this rests on Radio Nigeria's report alone in the sources read in this pass — no second outlet, police statement or party statement confirming a death, injuries or arrests was found, so it is carried here as that one report, explicitly unconfirmed. A casualty claim is never published as verified on a single source under Vozia's gate.
On the ladder: the evidence so far sits low — early, single or social sources. We publish the claim as a claim, never as fact.
What we know / what we don't know yet
What we know
- That both declarations were made and what figures each announced (Radio Nigeria, Daily Trust and others in agreement); the court history that forced the rerun; and that the two declarations' figures are arithmetically incompatible.
What we don't know yet
- Which declaration the APC's national leadership will recognise as the result — Radio Nigeria says it is seeking the party's clarification, and none had been issued in the reporting read.
- Whether Radio Nigeria's report of one death, injuries and the arrest of committee officials is accurate — no police, party or second-outlet confirmation had been found.
- Whether the dispute goes back to court, as the first primary did.
Why it matters
A Senate ticket for 2027 is being decided not by a count both sides accept but by rival announcements from the same election committee — in a state where party primaries have repeatedly ended in court. Until the APC says which declaration stands, Zamfara North has two candidates and no certain one.
Background
Show the background timeline (4)
The APC's first Zamfara North senatorial primary produces Ya'u as candidate; Shinkafi challenges it in court over irregularities.
The Federal High Court in Gusau nullifies the primary and orders a fresh exercise.
The Court of Appeal in Sokoto dismisses Ya'u's appeal and upholds the rerun order.
The rerun is held across Zamfara North's four LGAs — and ends with two rival declarations of a winner.
Update history
No silent edits. Every change is written here, with its time.
- Latest
Story published in Checking state as a brief from queue #1441 (Daily Trust), on the strength of Radio Nigeria's full report and four corroborating Nigerian outlets for the two declarations and their figures. The outcome itself is labelled Disputed — neither declaration is carried as the result — and Radio Nigeria's report of a death during the exercise is carried as Not yet verified, single-source. The hero is a labelled file photo of the National Assembly in Abuja, not from the primary.