The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has identified Gombe and Funakaye Local Government Areas as high-risk areas ahead of Saturday’s bye-election for the Gombe/Kwami/Funakaye Federal Constituency.
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The commission said the security classification followed a risk assessment conducted ahead of the poll scheduled for Saturday, September 19, 2026.
The election will take place across Gombe, Kwami and Funakaye Local Government Areas to fill the vacant seat in the House of Representatives following the death of the former lawmaker representing the constituency, Yaya Bauchi Tongo, in June.
INEC consequently called on security agencies to deploy adequate personnel and take preventive measures to ensure that voters, election officials, observers and political party agents are protected throughout the exercise.
The commission assured residents that the classification did not mean the election would be suspended in the affected areas, explaining that it was intended to guide security deployment and other operational arrangements.
INEC also urged political parties, candidates and their supporters to refrain from inflammatory statements, violence, intimidation, vote-buying and other actions capable of disrupting the poll.
The bye-election will be conducted in 903 polling units spread across 31 registration areas in the three local government areas.
Voting is scheduled to commence at 8:30 a.m. and end at 2:30 p.m., although voters already in the queue before the closing time will be allowed to cast their ballots.
Five candidates have been cleared to contest the vacant seat. They include Yaya Alfa Muhammed of the Action Peoples Party; Kallamu Usman Mai’jama’a of the All Progressives Congress; Gaddafi Haruna of the Allied Peoples Movement; Maigari Jungudo of the Labour Party; and Abdulkarim Abdulmujib Kwami of the National Democratic Party.
The commission said sensitive and non-sensitive election materials would be deployed to the affected local government areas in accordance with its operational timetable.
INEC officials are also expected to use the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System for the accreditation of voters and transmission of polling-unit results to the commission’s result-viewing portal.
The commission appealed to registered voters to come out and exercise their franchise peacefully, assuring all parties and candidates of a level playing field.
INEC said it was working with members of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security to develop appropriate security arrangements for the election, particularly in locations identified as vulnerable.
Security personnel are expected to be stationed at polling units, collation centres and strategic locations, while movement may be restricted within the affected constituency during the voting period.
The commission warned that any person found attempting to disrupt the election, intimidate voters, seize election materials or interfere with the collation of results would be dealt with in accordance with the law.
The bye-election is one of five legislative polls INEC will conduct simultaneously in Gombe, Bauchi, Kano and Delta states on September 19.
The other elections will be held in Dawakin Kudu State Constituency in Kano State, Sakwa and Disina State Constituencies in Bauchi State, and Udu State Constituency in Delta State.
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