The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has been formally declared winner in Ekiti State.

He won in all 16 local government areas to defeat the candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi and New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) Rabiu Kwankwaso and 14 others.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Ekiti State Collation Officer and Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Health Sciences, Ila Orangun, Osun State,Prof. Akeem Lasisi, said APC polled 201,494 votes, PDP, 89,554, LP, 11,397 votes and NNPP 264 votes.

“Ekiti has 988,923 registered voters, out of this, the number of accredited voters 315,058. Total valid votes, 308,171, the number of rejected votes 6,301 and total votes cast, 314,470. This is the final result of the presidential election in Ekiti State.”

As INEC chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, adjourned the collation of results till 11am today after announcing the result of only Ekiti State, tension has flared across the country even as major gladiator, Tinubu, Obi and Atiku trade accusations and counter-accusations.

Ahead ofthe resumption of collation and announcement of result, the LP has faulted the process and have vowed to challenge the outcome in court. The party said most of its members were deliberately disenfranchised through varied means across the country but were more discerning in its strongholds.

The party National Secretary, Umar Ibrahim, in a statement, yesterday, said while the party made inroads with high votes in most parts of northern Nigeria, its members were deliberately prevented from voting, chased away violently from polling units, or had ballot papers and boxes destroyed and burnt in other parts of the country.

He specifically called out Lagos, Rivers, Bayelsa, Kano, Yobe, and Edo states as top areas where such acts were perpetrated in violation of the Electoral Act 2022 as amended.

Umar said in some places, Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) staff and electoral materials were not deployed to areas that are known to be strongholds of his party or deployed late to frustrate the party supporters, who psychologically got tired of waiting and had to leave the polling units for the fear of the unknown.

“The delay by INEC to upload and announce results, especially where Labour Party, is already known to have taken lead, is also worrisome and we feel it is deliberate to anger our party and our supporters,” he said.

Umar also revealed that intelligence from the fields revealed that across the northern states, electorate identified as Labour Party supporters were tactically denied access to their polling units by some INEC ad-hoc staff who connived with others to confuse the electorate by insisting their polling units are different and sending them to the wrongs ones.

He said this frustrated the electorate and reduced the votes polled by Labour Party, which would have more than doubled if the right things were done.

While calling on INEC to checkmate and call its polling staff to order and also ensure punitive measures in line with the Electoral Act 2022 as amended, called on the party members and supporters to be calm, and remain law-abiding.

(Daily Sun)

•Tinubu, Obi

Ballot Box Snatching: APC youth leader escapes assassination

Kawu Mohammed Masu alias Toplero, the Gombe State All Progressive Congress (APC) youth leader escaped dead by the whiskers after sustaining a gun shot wound while trying to snatch ballot box.

The ballot box contained the results from the just concluded presidential election at the Yahaya Umaru 010 polling unit in Government Science Secondary School, Jekadafari, Gombe.

The incident, according to an eye witness, happened on the way to the INEC office shortly after the presiding officer of the unit Meshach Thomas had announced that the Governor, who is the North-east coordinator of the Tinubu presidential campaign lost in the polling unit to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during the presidential polls.

The APC members were said to have been angered by the loss which triggered the move to render the result useless.

The eyewitness who pleaded anonymity recount that the APC resorted to snatching the ballot box to prevent it from going to the collation center using the youth leader and other machinery for the act.

Another source from within the APC boys revealed that the incident occurred at around 8:45 pm on the election day when officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were packing up for the day.

“The incident occurred on the road leading to INEC office, along Bauchi road in Gombe metropolis, the youth leader was hanging on the Hilux van when he ordered his boys to snatch the box and other materials”. The eyewitness said.

“When he noticed the reaction of the security personnel providing security for the INEC officials, when he tried to jump down from the van, he was shot in the left leg and which led to a fracture in the second.

“He was rushed to the Federal Teaching Hospital in Gombe for treatment,” the source explained in Hausa language.

At the hospital, several security personnel mostly soldiers were seen everywhere around the Accident and Emergency (E&A) department of the hospital, while doctors tried to save the youth leader’s leg from being damaged permanently. (Daily Independent)