By Ajibola Olaide, JKNewsMedia Reporter
RE-ELECTION in Ekiti State has returned the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Biodun Oyebanji, as governor after polling 319,224 votes in the governorship election conducted across the state’s 16 local government areas.
JKNewsMedia.com reports that the Returning Officer for the election, Adenike Oladiji, announced the result at the collation centre in Ado Ekiti in the early hours of Sunday.
Oladiji said the APC candidate secured 319,224 votes to defeat the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Oluwole Oluyede, who polled 40,543 votes, and the African Democratic Congress candidate, Dare Bejide, who scored 12,872 votes.
The incumbent governor recorded victory in all 16 local government areas of the state.
INEC said 988,251 voters registered for the election, while 384,940 voters were accredited.
The commission recorded 375,777 valid votes.
Rejected votes stood at 6,332, bringing the total votes cast to 382,109, INEC revealed.
Oladiji, a professor and Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), announced the final result at about 3:13am, formally declaring the APC candidate winner of the election.
The poll was conducted across the state’s 2,445 polling units.
INEC reported that 2,257 polling units, representing 92.31 percent, opened before 8:30am, while 188 polling units, representing 7.69 percent, commenced voting before 10:30am after minor delays.
The commission also began uploading polling unit results to its Result Viewing Portal (RVP) after voting and counting ended in several locations.
During the election, the PDP candidate alleged that many voters were unable to vote at Ugele Arokun Ward in Ikere Local Government Area because of problems associated with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).
He also alleged voter harassment and intimidation in the ward.
Earlier, some elderly voters at the same polling unit expressed frustration after being unable to complete accreditation due to BVAS challenges and called on INEC to address the situation.
Also, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate also alleged irregularities during the election.
Promptly, the APC candidate rejected the allegations and said anyone making such claims should provide evidence.
Speaking after casting his vote at Polling Unit 003, Okelele, Ikogosi Ekiti, in Ekiti West Local Government Area, Oyebanji described the conduct of the election as satisfactory and encouraged eligible voters to participate peacefully.
The Commissioner of Police in charge of the election, CP Abayomi Shogunle, said no case of vote buying was reported to the police.
Meanwhile, voting ended before 3.00pm in many polling units, after which sorting and counting promptly commenced.
At Polling Unit 008, Ugele Arokun Ward in Ikere Local Government Area, sorting and counting began at about 2:37pm.
The exercise later became rowdy following disagreements over the validity of some ballot papers.
At Polling Unit 006, where the PDP candidate voted, voting continued beyond 4.00pm as some voters insisted on casting their ballots despite earlier delays.
Security personnel later intervened and restored calm after the situation became disorderly.
Observers commended aspects of the election while raising concerns about procedural issues.
Sebastian Anyia, First Vice President of the Nigerian Bar Association (VP/NBA), described the process as peaceful and orderly and said voter turnout was encouraging.
Brenda Anugwom, Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Women Trust Fund (CEO/NWTF), praised the commitment of female voters.
“The women are so resilient; in front of me at the other polling unit, they are laying their blankets on the floor and placing their toddlers, which means they are here to stay; they mean business, and they really want to cast their vote,” she said.
Yiaga Africa raised concerns over what it described as discrepancies involving ballot papers, result sheets and INEC’s published list of candidates.
The organisation said its preliminary findings raised concerns about the consistency of election materials deployed for the poll and called on INEC to publicly clarify the final list of parties and candidates and provide written guidance to officials handling collation and result documentation.
INEC explained that 19 parties were included on the ballot paper to avoid the cost of printing fresh ballot papers following court orders.
Ahead of the election, INEC repeatedly stated that it was prepared to conduct a credible and transparent poll.
Security agencies also said extensive preparations had been made for the election.
Similarly, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) led a multi-agency security operation across the state, deployed personnel to polling units and collation centres, imposed restrictions on vehicular movement during voting hours and warned against electoral offences.
Final Results Declared by INEC
Candidate Party Votes
Biodun Oyebanji APC 319,224
Oluwole Oluyede PDP 40,543
Dare Bejide ADC 12,872
Key Highlights
• Oyebanji won by 278,681 votes over the PDP candidate.
• He recorded victories in all 16 local government areas reported during collation.
• A total of 384,940 voters were accredited.
• 375,777 valid votes were counted, while 6,332 votes were rejected.
Some of the strongest local government results according to results announced during collation:
• Ado-Ekiti LGA:
APC: 38,026
PDP: 3,817
ADC: 3,817
• Ekiti West LGA
APC: 28,258
PDP: 3,644
ADC: 674
• Ido/Osi LGA
APC: 17,901
PDP: 1,449
ADC: 561
• Ekiti South-West LGA
APC: 14,705
PDP: 1,800
ADC: 1,076
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