The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is currently securing the dominant lead as the the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) resumed the collation of results in the keenly contested Ondo State Governorship election after a brief recess.
So far, the ruling party has cleared all the 18 Local Government Areas announced by the electoral umpire.
The results announced so far has positioned Lucky Ayedatiwa of the APC who doubles as the incumbent Governor of the state apparent winner of the election.
As at present, INEC’s returning officer is transferring all the results from the LGAs to a sheet, where the final results would be announced.
PDP candidate, Agboola Ajayi is expected to be announced as the first runner-up, while ZLP candidate, Abbas Mimiko is expected to settle for the second runner-up.
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The collation officer, Prof. Olayemi Akinwunmi had earlier called for a break to allow time for results from the remaining Local Government Areas to arrive.
“I think we can just adjourn till 12 noon please;two remaining local governments are not here yet, so we adjourn till 12 noon.
“The local governments, Ilaje and Ese Odo, are very far, so we need to give the time to arrive here,” Prof. Akinwunmi said.
As it stands all the 18 local government areas have been announced and APC has secured clean win leaving no Local Governemt out for the closest PDP rival.
Earlier, a notable contention arose in Idanre, where the PDP agent raised allegations of vote-buying, ballot box snatching, and incomplete elections in some areas.
The agent requested that the returning officer reject the results from Idanre.
INEC National Commissioner, Prof. Kunle Ajayi, speaking in Akure before the resumption of collation, assured voters that the final declaration would not be delayed.
“I can assure you that until we declare the winner, we won’t leave here.
“We will wait until the last local government before we leave.
“I don’t have any fear that even by 6 am, maybe everything would have been over,” he stated.
As the collation continues, the anticipation remains high for the final declaration of the winner, which will cement the APC’s position or leave room for potential surprises in the pending results.
