By Our Correspondent

National News – The All Progressives Congress has overturned the earlier result of the Pankshin/Kanke/Kanam House of Representatives primary election in Plateau State and declared incumbent lawmaker Yusuf Gagdi the authentic winner.

The reversal was announced on Monday at the party secretariat in Jos by the Chairman of the APC Plateau State Primaries Electoral Committee, Stella Okotete.

Okotete said the first declaration that named John Tongshinen as winner was unauthorised and should be disregarded.

According to her, only the officially appointed returning officer, Nandom Kura, had the constitutional authority to announce the APC primary election result for the Pankshin/Kanke/Kanam federal constituency.

Kura later declared Gagdi winner of the APC House of Representatives primary conducted on Saturday across the 36 wards in the constituency.

The announcement came after controversy erupted over an earlier result declared in Pankshin by another official, Monday Daspan, who had announced Tongshinen as winner with 29,968 votes against Gagdi’s 5,849 votes.

Reacting to the dispute, Gagdi rejected the earlier declaration and insisted the APC primary election process followed due procedure.

The lawmaker, who currently chairs the House of Representatives Committee on Navy, said accreditation records, videos, photographs and other evidence confirmed that voting was properly conducted across all wards.

Gagdi also described the earlier announcement as fraudulent, alleging that the individual who declared the first result lacked approval from the electoral committee.

He maintained that APC guidelines clearly state that only authorised officials can announce election outcomes during party primaries.

The fresh declaration sparked celebrations in parts of Kanam and Pankshin as supporters welcomed the development.

Political observers say the Pankshin/Kanke/Kanam federal constituency contest remains one of the most closely watched APC primaries ahead of the 2027 general elections in Nigeria.