The results of the Saturday governorship elections have been certified by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), with Lagos State’s Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu declared the victor.
This was revealed on Monday in Lagos by Prof. Adenike Oladiji, Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, (FUTA) Akure, who is also the Returning Officer.
According to her, Sanwo-Olu received 762, 134 votes in total, defeating Mr. Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour of the Labour Party who received 312, 329 votes.
Dr. Abdul-Azeez Adediran, the PDP candidate, finished third in the election with 62,449 votes, according to Oladiji.
She disclosed votes garnered by other political parties in the contest as: A (800), AA (904), AAC(627), ADC (6,078), ADP(2833), APM (884), APP (259), BP (616),NNPP (1,583), NRM (340), SDP (1,746), YPP (461) and ZLP (1,635).
Oladiji put the total number of registered voters at 7,060,195; total accredited voters at 1,182620; total vote cast at 1,173,631, total valid vote at 1, 155, 678 and rejected votes at 17,953.
Oladiji said: “I declare that Sanwo-Olu Babajide Olusola of APC, having satisfied the requirements of the law by scoring 25 per cent in two-third of the local government areas in the state and also scoring the highest number of vote cast is hereby declared the winner and he is returned elected.”
The returning officer invited party agents available to sign the results of the poll, but agents of the LP and PDP were not present to sign the results.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that APC won in 19 Local Government Areas of the state, the LP won in one LGA while the PDP did not win.
In his remark, the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr Olusegun Agbaje, noted that some of the allegations of manipulation leveled against him were fallacy.
Agbaje, however, said that such allegations were not strange in a clime like ours and decried the poor turn out of voters.
Assessing the process, Mr Olusegun Mobolaji, Lagos state Chairman, Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) decried the pockets of violence experienced in some parts of the state as well as vote buying and apathy.
He urged the candidates to imbibe the spirit of sportsmanship and accept the outcome of the elections in good faith.
Mobolaji urged INEC to improve on the shortcomings in the future elections.
Earlier, before leaving the collation centre, Pastor Dayo Ekong, Lagos State Chairman of LP and party’s State Collation Agent, called for the cancellation of the elections.
Accusing Agbaje of disappointing the youth, Ekong decried high level of violence, attacks, ballot boxes snatching, disruption, disenfranchisement as well as killing in some case that characterised the exercise.
Meanwhile, the APC’s State Collation Agent, Mr Fouad Oki, who expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the poll, described the ruling party’s victory as democracy at work. (NAN)
