The All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate for the Ondo State gubernatorial elections Lucky Aiyedatiwa has been declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Aiyedatiwa as announced by the Returning Officer for INEC in the Ondo governorship elections Olayemi Akinyemi secured 366,781 to beat his opponent from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Agboola Ajayi who got 117,845 votes.
Both candidates of the elections have once served as Deputy governors of the State to the late Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu. Mr. Aiyedatiwa who was appointed deputy in 2020 after some misunderstanding between the late Akeredolu with the former deputy Mr. Ajayi had claimed that he has an advantage over his opponent, because since replacing the late Governor in December 2023, he has done well for the State.
“I am at an advantage to win because of the work I have done in the last 10 months”, Mr. Aiyedatiwa said according to PremiumTimes. “I was the only candidate that covered the entire state. I felt the people, I listened to them and the people were excited at my appearance. I believe they will translate the love to vote today,” he said.
APC’s Aiyedatiwa won in each of the 18 Local Government Areas in the State, including his polling unit which he claimed 124 votes against three by his opponent and was also beaten in Ajayi’s polling unit, securing three votes against Ajayi’s 194.
Voting took place in 3,933 polling units in the 18 Local Government Areas. INEC announced that there are 2.03 million registered voters in Ondo State, but 1.7 million Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) were collected, which represents 85.6 percent of the number of registered voters.
Mr. Ajayi who represents PDP believes the election was compromised. He had complained of being unable to cast his vote in his polling unit, taking him 10 minutes to do so. Ajayi claims this was done to frustrate his candidacy.
The election was not without its problems, as violence were reported in some areas, and vote buying.
