No fewer than 285 candidates from 34 political parties are to participate in today’s governorship and State House of Assembly elections in Gombe.
The Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC), Public Relations Officer (PRO), Mr Mohorret Bigun, made this disclosure in an interview with journalist on Thursday in Gombe.
Bigun said that 32 candidates were vying for the governorship seat, while 253 candidates from 34 political parties were vying for 24 seats in Gombe State House of Assembly.
Out of the 32 governorship candidates, one is female, while only 18 females out of 253 candidates are also participating in the Gombe State House Assembly election.
The ratio of male candidates to female for the governorship election is 96.87 per cent to 3.13 per cent, while that of house of assembly election is 92.88 per cent to 7.12 per cent.
He listed some of the political parties participating in the election to include All Progressives Congress (APC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Social Democratic Party (SDP), Accord Party (AP), Democratic People’s Party (DPP), and People’s Redemption Party (PRP).
Others are: Advanced Congress of Democrats (ACD), Advanced Alliance Party (AAP), All Blended Party (ABP), Labour Party (LP), African Democratic Congress (ADC), Yes Electorate Party (YES), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).
Some of the governorship candidates include Aishatu Bikimcha (Accord Party), Bala Bello (DPP), Kwairanga Magaji (AD), Mohammed Musa (ACD), Inuwa Yahaya (APC), Nafada Bayero (PDP) and David Aiye (UPN).
Bigun appealed to the electorate in Gombe to conduct themselves in peaceful manner during today’s elections. He expressed the determination of the commission to conduct free, fair and credible polls in the state.