INEC Releases Final List As Four Parties Battle For Gombe/Kwami/Funakaye Seat

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has released the final list of candidates cleared to contest the forthcoming Gombe/Kwami/Funakaye Federal Constituency by-election in Gombe State.

According to Bush Radio Academy, the list, signed by the Secretary to the Commission, Rose Oriaran-Anthony, contains four candidates representing the Allied Peoples Party (APP), All Progressives Congress (APC), Allied Peoples Movement (APM) and New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).

INEC listed Yaya Alfa Muhammad as the candidate of the APP, while Kallamu Usman Maijama’a will contest the election on the platform of the APC. Gaddafi Haruna is the candidate of the APM, while Abdulkarim Abdulmajib is representing the NNPP.

The electoral commission also included the educational qualifications of the four candidates in the document. The qualifications range from the First School Leaving Certificate and Senior Secondary School Certificate to the National Certificate in Education, bachelor’s degree and doctorate qualifications.

The by-election became necessary following the death of Hon. Yaya Bauchi Tongo, who represented the constituency in the House of Representatives before his death on June 12, 2026, after a brief illness in an Abuja hospital.

Tongo was elected to the National Assembly on the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC). Before his election to the House of Representatives, he served as Chairman of Funakaye Local Government Area, Special Adviser to the Gombe State Government and a member of the Gombe State House of Assembly.

Following his death, the House of Representatives formally declared the Gombe/Kwami/Funakaye Federal Constituency seat vacant on July 23, 2026. The declaration was made by the Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, in accordance with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.

The declaration formally notified INEC of the vacancy and paved the way for the commission to organise a by-election within the period prescribed by law.

During his time in the National Assembly, Tongo represented the interests of constituents across Gombe, Kwami and Funakaye Local Government Areas and also served as Chairman of the Nigeria-United Arab Emirates Parliamentary Friendship Group in the House of Representatives.

The House leadership had called for continued representation for the affected constituents following the lawmaker’s death, while the Speaker also expressed condolences to the Gombe State Government, the people of the state, the constituents and Tongo’s family.

The forthcoming by-election will determine the lawmaker who will succeed Tongo as the representative of the Gombe/Kwami/Funakaye Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives