The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Sen. Lucky Aiyedatiwa, as Governor-elect of Ondo State.
The Returning Officer for the election, Prof Olayemi Akinwumi, the Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University, Lokoja, Kogi State, declared Aiyedatiwa of the All Progressives Congress (APC) the winner of the election.
By this announcement, the governor’s stay at the Government House in Alagbaka, Akure, has been extended for another four years.
Aiyedatiwa, the incumbent governor of the state polled 366, 781 votes to defeat his closest rival and a former Deputy Governor of the state, Ajayi Agboola, who flew the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ticket.
Agbools polled a total of 117, 845 votes, more than twice lower than the APC candidate.
According to the Returning Officer, “That Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa of the APC, having satisfied the requirements of the law, is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected,” he said at exactly 2:30pm at the INEC Collation Centre in Akure.
The declaration came hours after the collation of results for the election began in the early hours of Sunday.
Although the centre went on break, the APC continues with its lead with over 200,000 votes ahead of the PDP.
The final results showed that the APC won the election in a landslide, clearing all 18 local government areas.
Having been declared the winner of the election, Aiyedatiwa is set to extend his stay at the helm of affairs in the oil-rich state. He – a former deputy governor – ascended into the leadership of the South-West state on December 27th, 2023 after Governor Rotimi Akeredolu’s death.
Akeredolu died the same day after a lengthy battle with illness and had before his demise, transmitted power to Aiyedatiwa.
Aiyedatiwa, thereafter won the APC’s ticket for the 2024 governorship election, pitting him against 17 other candidates including Agboola, who was also a former deputy to Akeredolu during his first term in office.
Aiyedatiwa faces stiff competition from Agboola in the leadup to the election, but in his campaigns, he promised a better economy and welfare for workers across the state.
The governor pointed to his signing of N73,000 as minimum wage – higher than the N70,000 earmarked by the Federal Government – in the state as a pointer to this.
