The
electoral commission, INEC, has declared the Osun State governorship election
“inconclusive.”
The declaration was made by Joseph Fuwape, the
presiding officer of the election at the INEC headquarters in Osun.
At the end of the collation of votes, the PDP
candidate, Ademola Adeleke, won majority votes of about 254,698 votes while
Gboyega Oyetola of the APC came a close second with 254,345 votes. Both leading
candidates had a difference of about 354 votes.
“Unfortunately as the returning officer, it’s
not possible to declare anybody as the clear winner of the election on the
first ballot,” Mr Fuwape, Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of
Technology, Akure, said.
He explained that the total registered voters
in the five polling units where elections were cancelled is 3,498 votes. Since
that figure was higher than the difference between the votes of the leading
candidates, a re-run election had to be conducted, the INEC chief explained.
“I, Joseph Adeola Fuwape, hereby, declare this
election inconclusive,” he said.
INEC’s election guideline made pursuant to
Section 153 of the Electoral Act stipulates a rerun if the margin of victory in
an election is lower than the number of voters in units where elections are cancelled.
In that case, rerun will hold in areas where
elections are cancelled.
The electoral commission later declared
Thursday, September 27 as the day of the rerun election.
The announcement by INEC came shortly after the
Adeleke campaign organisation appealed to election body not to declare the
election inconclusive.
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