INEC DECLARES OSUN STATE GOVERNORSHIP ELECTION INCONCLUSIVE

September 24, 2018

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-By Joseph Omoniyi
The Independent National Electoral Commission has declared the Osun State governorship election inconclusive and fixed September 27th for the rerun.
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. According to INEC this was due to irregularities which marred the election at some polling units in Ife North, Ife South and Orolu local government areas, including cases of card reader malfunctioning, ballot box snatching, among others, this led to the cancellation of 3,498 votes recorded in the affected polling units.
Quoting INEC’s Standing Rules at the commission’s headquarters in Osogbo, the state capital, the Returning Officer and Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Prof Joseph Fowape, said since the margin between the two leading candidates was lower than the registered cancelled votes, the election had to be declared inconclusive.
He stated that a rerun would take place at the affected polling units on Thursday, September 27, 2018.