The Independent National Electoral Commission has declared the House of Representatives by-election in the Dawakin Kudu/Warawa Federal Constituency of Kano State peaceful and hitch-free, describing the conduct of the exercise as an encouraging precedent for the 2027 general elections.

The poll, held on Saturday, June 20, 2026, was conducted to fill the vacancy created by the death of Hon. Muhammad Hassan Danjuma, who had represented the constituency in the House of Representatives until his passing in April. Danjuma, who was elected in 2023 on the platform of the New Nigeria People’s Party, had subsequently defected to the African Democratic Congress alongside former Kano Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso before his death.

Three candidates contested the seat, with the All Progressives Congress fielding Rabiu Shuaibu, while the Labour Party presented Abubakar Muhammad and the Allied Peoples Movement sponsored Lawan Haruna. The INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner in Kano State, Ambassador Abdu Zango, expressed satisfaction with how the exercise was conducted, particularly commending the police and other security agencies for their meticulous planning and deployment. Speaking with journalists at a polling station in Warawa Local Government Area, he said the election recorded no incidents of violence and that the massive voter turnout, especially in Warawa, reflected the level of preparation that went into the exercise.

Security agencies had earlier imposed a total restriction of vehicular and pedestrian movement in Dawakin Kudu and Warawa Local Government Areas from midnight to 5pm on election day, with exemptions granted only to essential service workers, INEC officials, accredited observers, and credentialed journalists. The Kano State Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Adamu Bakori, had assured the public ahead of the poll that no known security threat existed in the constituency and that adequate personnel had been deployed to polling units, collation centres, and INEC offices across the two local government areas.

The by-election in Kano was one of six conducted simultaneously across the country on June 20, alongside the Ekiti State governorship election. Other constituencies that held polls on the same day included the Nasarawa North, Rivers South-East, Ondo South, and Enugu North Senatorial Districts, as well as the Zuru State Constituency in Kebbi State. Political analysts had noted that the outcome of the Kano contest would serve as a gauge of the relative strength of political structures in the state ahead of the 2027 general elections, given Kano’s strategic importance in national politics.