Millions of voters headed to the polls on Saturday to choose their governors and state house of assembly members for a new four-year term.
Three weeks after a dramatic round of presidential and National Assembly elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) again took centre stage for the conduct of governorship and state house of assembly polls across the country.
The state-centred elections were initially scheduled for March 11 but the fallout of the federal elections set back the reconfiguration of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices prompting a one-week delay.
Amid hopes of a hitch-free exercise, Nigerians finally trooped out to various polling units to cast their votes for their candidates of choice. According to INEC, a total of 87.2 million were eligible to vote, having collected their permanent voter cards (PVCs).
Of the 36 states, governorship polls were held in 28, namely Abia, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Enugu, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe, and Zamfara.
As for the state legislatures, all 36 states are the home bases of thousands competing for 993 state house of assembly seats.
INEC Returning Officer Rejects Manual Result For Adamawa LG, Accepts IReV’s
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Returning Officer for Adamawa Prof Muhammed Mele of the University of Maiduguri, Borno State, has rejected the manual result sheet from the Fufore Local Government Area (LGA) of the state.
While the All Progressives Congress (APC) scored 26,329 and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) polled 21,721 in the result sheet, the INEC’s Result Viewing Portal (IReV) showed that the APC got 24,777 votes, and the PDP 20, 777.
04:19 pm: APC Retains Cross River, Bassey Otu Emerges Winner
He scored 258,619 votes, beating Sandy Onor who had 179,636 votes.
04:09 pm: APC Clinches Niger Governorship Post
The Niger State Governorship Election Collation Officer Professor Clement Alawa has declared Umar Bago of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of Saturday’s exercise.
He made the declaration in Minna, the state capital, saying the winner polled 469,896 votes, beating his close contender of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Liman Isah Kantigi who scored 387,476 votes.
03:20 pm: PDP Wins Delta Governorship Poll
02:55 pm: Caleb Mutfwang Of PDP Wins Plateau Governorship Election
REGISTERED VOTERS
2,789,528
ACCREDITED VOTERS
1,099,860
TOTAL VALID VOTES
1,080,425
REJECTED VOTES
11,181
TOTAL VOTES CAST
1,091,606
SCORES BY POLITICAL PARTIES
APC 481,370
LP 60,310
PDP 525,299
02:50 pm: Collation of governorship election result has been suspended in Rivers till 5 pm.
Ahoada West LGA result is being awaited
02:49 pm: At Least 21 Killed In Nigeria’s Electoral Violence, Says EU Observer
As results of the governorship and state house of assembly polls are being collated across the country, the European Union says no fewer than 21 persons have died from electoral violence.
02:39 pm: APC’s Francis Nwifuru wins the Ebonyi governorship election.
02:21 pm: The EU mission also notes that At least, 21 people died in relation to Elections violence across the states
02:13 pm: Security operatives at the INEC collation Centre in Yola patiently wait for the collation to commence.
02:09 pm: Umahi’s Ally And Ebonyi Speaker, Nwifuru Declared Gov-Elect
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Francis Nwifuru as the winner of the March 18 poll in Ebonyi State.
01:55 pm: Zamfara Speaker, Deputy Lose Seats To PDP Members
The Speaker of the Zamfara State House of Assembly, Nasiru Muazu Magarya, of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has lost his Zurmi West constituency re-election bid to Bilyaminu Ismail of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Also, the Deputy Speaker of the House, Musa Bawa Yankuzo, and the Deputy Leader of the House, Nasiru Lawal Bungudu, lost their seat to Bello Maza-Waje and Bashiru Dan-Meri of PDP respectively
01:47 pm: INEC Suspends Collation Of Results In Abia, Enugu
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has suspended the collation of results for Saturday’s governorship elections in the states to review some results in parts of the states respectively.
In a statement by the INEC National Commissioner, Festus Okoye, on Monday, he said the Commission took the decision after a meeting to review the elections on Monday.
SOURCE: CHANNELS TV