Suswam, Yuguda lose senatorial battles

Governor Gabriel Suswan of Benue State has lost in his bid to return to the National Assembly after an eight-year stint as governor.
Suswam was elected governor in 2007 after serving two terms as a member of the House of Representatives.
Suswam lost to a former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Barnabas Gemade, who contested on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Announcing the results at the INEC headquarters in Makurdi, the returning officer for Benue North East Senatorial election, Prof Mohammed Adah, said Gemade polled 140, 715 votes to beat Suswam, who polled 118, 603 votes.
The returning officer also announced that a total of 661,067 voters registered for the election with 290,446 accredited, while 266,232 votes were counted as valid.
He said rejected votes were 5,096 while total number of votes cast was 271,328.
In Bauchi State, the APC candidate for Bauchi South Senatorial seat, Malam Ali Wakili, defeated Governor Isa Yuguda of the PDP.
Announcing the result of the election in Bauchi, the INEC Returning Officer for the Senatorial District, Dr Shuaibu Musa, said Wakili polled 341,708 votes to defeat Yuguda, who secured 115,341 votes
Yuguda and Wakili were the only candidates that contested for the seat.
Wakili 55, a 1982 graduate of Bayero University, Kano, had served with the Bauchi State Government, before transferring his service to the Nigeria Customs Service in 1991.
While in Customs, he held command positions at Ikeja Industrial Area, Tin Can Island, Seme Area Command as well as Commandant, Kano Training School.
He retired from the Nigeria Customs Service in 2009 as Comptroller of Customs.
Bauchi South Senatorial District comprises of seven local government areas, namely Kirfi, Alkaleri, Toro,Tafawa-Balewa, Bogoro, Dass and Bauchi.