The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Biodun Oyebanji, winner of Saturday’s governorship election in Ekiti State.
Oyebanji was declared winner in the early hours of Sunday by the Returning Officer for the election and Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Professor Adenike Oladiji, at the INEC collation centre in Ado-Ekiti.
Announcing the final results at about 3:13 a.m., Professor Oladiji said Oyebanji polled 319,224 votes to defeat his closest rivals and secure a second term in office.
With the victory, Oyebanji has made history as the first governor in Ekiti State to win re-election and secure two consecutive terms through the ballot.
According to the results announced by INEC, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr Oluwole Oluyede, came a distant second with 40,543 votes, while the candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Mr Dare Bejide, garnered 12,872 votes.
Professor Oladiji disclosed that a total of 988,251 voters were registered for the election, while 384,940 voters were accredited across the 16 local government areas of the state.
She added that 382,109 votes were cast during the election, out of which 375,777 were valid votes, while 6,332 ballots were rejected.
Having satisfied the requirements of the law and scored the highest number of valid votes cast, Professor Oladiji officially returned Oyebanji as the duly elected Governor of Ekiti State in line with the provisions of the Electoral Act.
