Nigeria's ruling party wins northern state governorship poll

Nigeria's ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in northern Sokoto State Aliyu Wamakko has been declared winner of Saturday's governorship election, beating 29 other contestants. Chief Returning Officer for the polls Abdullahi Zuru disclosed this to reporters in Sokoto, the state capital on Sunday, saying that Wamakko, who is also the immediate past governor got 518,247 votes to beat his closest rival, Yusha'u Ahmed of the All Nigerian People's Party (ANPP), who obtained 131, 048 votes. The Congress for Progressive Change candidate Abubakar Yabo came third with 7,323 votes, Zuru said, noting that Wamakko scored 71.18 percent of the 728,108 votes cast in the election.