The Independent National National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared the governorship election in Adamawa, Benue and Plateau and Kano states inconclusive.
In Benue, INEC said Governor Samuel Ortom, who contested on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) polled 410,576 votes, followed by the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Emmanuel Jime, who polled 329,022 votes.
The state Returning Officer, Prof. Sabastine Maimako, announced the results and said the reason for declaring the election inconclusive was because the total number of cancelled votes was more than the margin of win.
He gave the total number of cancelled votes as 121,019 as against the margin of win which is 81, 554 in favour of Ortom.
Maimako noted that as a result of the difference, the election had to be declared inconclusive and added that supplementary elections would hold within 21 days.
In Yola, capital of Adamawa State, INEC declared the governorship election inconclusive, after the total figure from cancellations of polls in 44 polling units were higher than the margin between the two leading candidates. INEC said a date for the rerun would soon be announced.
The state Returning Officer, Professor Andrew Haruna made the announcement at the INEC head office, yesterday.
However, results of the 21 local governments in Adamawa, pointed at a PDP win as the party had already cleared 12 of the 21 local governments results declared by Haruna; of the Federal University, Gashuwa.
It was no different in Plateau State as the governorship poll was also declared inconclusive due to cancellation of results in 41 polling uints in nine local government areas of the state.
The state Returning Officer, Prof. Richard Anande, who declared the poll inconclusive said the the incumbent Governor and APC candidate, Simon Lalong polled 583, 255 votes, while his closest contender and PDP candidate, Senator Jeremiah Useni, got 538, 326 votes. Lalong won in 11 local government areas with a leading margin of 44,929 while Jeremiah Useni won in six councils.
From Abuja, the decried the declaration of the governorship elections in Adamawa, Plateau , Bauchi, Sokoto and Benue states as inconclusive.
In Kano, yesterday night, the REC said the cancelled votes of over 124, 000 was more than the margin of victory.
Consequently, the PDP charged its members in the affected states to embark on protests to INEC offices and deploy all legitimate means to secure the mandate given to the party by the electorate.
PDP National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, made the call, at a press briefing in Abuja, yesterday.
He said: “The PDP has full intelligence of how INEC is acting on instructions…in orchestrating unwholesome situations and declaring already concluded governorship elections in Sokoto, Adamawa, Bauchi, Plateau as well as other states as inconclusive, immediately it becomes obvious that the PDP was set to win.
“This also informs the foisting of unexplainable stoppage and delays in the announcement of already collated results in other states where the PDP is clearly leading the race, from the results so far declared at the polling units.
“Our party has also been informed of how INEC is now seeking ways to use the situation to aid the APC to alter the results and announce APC candidates as winners in the elections clearly led by the PDP just as it did in the 2018 Osun State governorship election…
