The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has refused to declare a victor in the Kogi West Senatorial election, held Saturday, with Dino Melaye of the PDP and Smart Adeyemi of the APC, the main contenders.
The returning officer, Professor Olayinde Lawal, declared the election inconclusive, though Adeyemi led Melaye with 20,570 votes, by scoring 80,118 votes, while Melaye scored 59, 548 votes.
Lawal said the margin between the candidates is lower than the 43,127 registered voters in 53 polling units of 20 registration areas in the zone where elections were cancelled.
The returning officer, who declared the election inconclusive said, he was constrained by law to declare a winner because of the smaller margin of lead between the leading candidates and the cancelled votes .
He added that INEC will announce a new date for the conduct of a supplementary election in the 53 polling units before a winner can be returned.
How the two candidates performed in the seven LGA’s
Kabba/Bunu LGA
APC-15,037
PDP-8,974
Ijumu LGA
APC-11,627
PDP-7,647
Kogi/Koton Karfe LGA
APC-14,168
PDP-9,786
Mapo/Muro LGA
APC-4,874
PDP-3,704
Yagba East LGA
APC-6,683
PDP-7,745
Yagba West LGA
APC-7,941
PDP-8,980
Lokoja LGA
APC-19,788
PDP-12,712
