The June 20, 2026 by-election for the Nasarawa North Senatorial District drew sharply opposing assessments from top political figures. Governor Abdullahi Sule praised the electoral process as exceptionally smooth, while former Information Minister Labaran Maku highlighted what he termed as widespread irregularities, including technical failures of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).
Governor Sule, casting his ballot at Polling Unit 002 in Gudi Motor Park alongside his wives, described the experience as one of the most seamless in recent memory. He noted that the entire process, from BVAS accreditation to voting, took only three to five minutes. “For me, this is the smoothest it has ever been. Historically, this is the fastest I’ve seen,” he remarked to journalists. Sule dismissed the notion that the by-election was a test of his personal political clout ahead of the 2027 general elections, instead framing it as a referendum on the performance of the All Progressives Congress (APC). “It is an opportunity for the people of Nasarawa North to say thank you to APC. By the grace of God, we are going to see a ‘thank you’ result,” he added.
In stark contrast, Maku, who voted at his Wakama Ward polling unit, alleged that BVAS devices malfunctioned across several parts of the district. While his own accreditation went smoothly, he claimed many voters faced long delays due to faulty machines. “Quite a number of people, the BVAS could not capture their fingerprints and they have been waiting there since morning,” Maku asserted. He urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to employ facial recognition technology as a backup, arguing that voter photographs are already in the electoral register. Maku further reported similar issues at polling centers in Wamba Central and Wamba Clinic, where officials struggled to repair accreditation devices, and alleged that some BVAS units ran out of data after processing only a few voters. “At my polling unit, we had to volunteer data to INEC officials to enable them continue the accreditation process,” he stated. Beyond technical glitches, Maku claimed there were reports of multiple thumbprinting of ballot papers in communities like Alushi and Wacho, though no official confirmation was available.
Despite his complaints, Maku acknowledged that voting was largely peaceful across many units but cautioned that tensions often flare during result collation. He called on security agencies to protect the collation process and criticized a “win-at-all-costs” political culture, urging governments to rely on performance rather than manipulation. He also stressed that public trust in elections would grow if disputes were judged on substance rather than technicalities.
The by-election was held to fill the seat left vacant by the death of Senator Godiya Akwashiki. As of press time, INEC had not responded to the allegations, and result collation was ongoing.