The All Progressive Congress (APC) candidate in the Ondo State Governorship election, Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa, has been declared winner. He cleared all 18 local government areas and scored 248,000 votes more than his closest rival.
The Returning Officer for the election Olayemi Akinwumi, who is also the Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University, Lokoja, Kogi State declared Aiyedatiwa of the All Progressives Congress (APC) the winner of the election on Sunday, extending the governor’s stay at the Government House in Alagbaka, Akure.
Aiyedatiwa, the incumbent governor of the Sunshine State, polled 366,781 votes to defeat his closest rival and a former deputy governor of the state Ajayi Agboola who flew the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) flag. He scored 117,845 votes, more than twice lower than the APC candidate.
“That Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa of the APC having satisfied the requirement of the law is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected,” the returning officer said at exactly 2:30 pm at the INEC collation centre in Akure.
The declaration came hours after the collation of results for the election began in the early hours of Sunday. Although the collation centre went on breaks, the APC took a commanding lead with over 200,000 votes ahead of the PDP.
The final results showed that the APC won the election in a landslide, clearing all 18 local government areas.
Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu has urged candidates dissatisfied with the outcome of the Ondo State governorship election to explore the opportunities provided by the judicial system to seek redress.
President Tinubu, who congratulated Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of the All Progressives Congress (APC), also commended the peaceful conduct of the process.
The President congratulated other candidates of the 17 political parties for the maturity and sense of purpose demonstrated during the campaigns and the election, attributing the success of the polls to the civility in the state.
Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, in a statement enjoined political actors to allow their orderly conduct to permeate the post-election activities and processes.
