The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Isiaka Gboyega Oyetola, candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the Osun state governorship election winner of the keenly contested election.
Prof. Joseph Fuwape, returning officer of the election, who made the declaration at the head office of the commission in Osun, said Oyetola polled 255,505 votes to defeat Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who had 255,023 votes.
Adeleke was leading by a margin of 325 votes in the election which held on Saturday but INEC declared the exercise inconclusive, saying the requirements for a winner to be declared were not met. It subsequently fixed a rerun for Thursday. The rerun held across seven polling units in four local government areas.
The rerun was held in one polling unit in Oyere in Ife-North, one polling unit in Olode in Ife-South, another polling unit in Osi, Ife-South, three polling units in Orolu, Kajola Local Government Area of the state and one polling unit in Osogbo.
In Oyere, APC had 126 votes while PDP had two votes. In Olode, APC scored 283 votes with the PDP scoring 15 votes. In Osi, APC had 172 votes while the PDP had 21 votes. In Ifon, Orolu, APC had 111 votes against PDP’s three votes. In Gbogbo, Orolu, APC had 41 while PDP scored 64 votes. Also in Idiya, Orolu, the APC scored 128 votes against the PDP’s 55 votes.
In Osogbo, the APC scored 299 votes while the PDP scored 165 votes. In all, APC scored 1,160 to beat the PDP which scored 325 in the rerun. When added to the result of the main election on Saturday, APC had a total of 255, 505 votes against PDP’s 255,023. In the run-up to the rerun of the election, the PDP alleged that INEC shortchanged its candidate in some of the council areas by announcing figures that were lower than what Adeleke actually scored.
The PDP has rejected the election, describing it as a charade. Uche Secondus, national chairman of the party, had said the election exposed APC rigging formula for 2019.
Adeleke had earlier on Thursday, accused the INEC of conspiring with the ruling party to thwart the will of the people, stressing that the state was under siege during the rerun, lamenting the attack on his supporters.
“This is not a free and fair election. Osun state is under siege; we are at war in Osun. They didn’t allow my party to vote. It’s only APC people they allowed to vote. INEC and security agents have compromised. So, there is no election in Osun today. I urge INEC to cancel the election with immediate effect and declare me the winner because I’ve already won the election. ”