THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared the All Progressives Congress (APC) Lucky Aiyedatiwa, the winner in the Saturday, November 16, Ondo State governorship poll.

Aiyedatiwa polled 366,781 votes to defeat his main contender, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Agboola Ajayi, who garnered  117,845 votes.

He recorded a landslide victory in all the 18 local government areas (LGAs).

Announcing the final result on Sunday, November 17 at the INEC Collation Centre in Akure, Ondo State, the state Resident Electoral Commissioner, Oluwatoyin Babalola, declared that Aiyedatiwa was returned elected.

Aiyedatiwa currently occupies the Alagbaka House as incumbent governor following the death of his principal, Rotimi Akeredolu.

He took over in December 2023, and with his re-election, he will serve for the next four years.

Amid the landslide victory, however, voters’ turnout appeared low relative to the number of registered voters.

INEC’s data showed that 2,053,061 eligible voters registered for permanent voter cards (PVCs) but only 1,757,205 of those who registered collected the PVCs.

This means that 85.6 per cent of registered voters were eligible to participate in the election, conducted across 3,933 polling units in the state’s 18 LGAs.

The Saturday election was also marred by widespread reports of biometric voter accreditation system (BVAS) malfunctions and vote-buying in various polling units across the state.

The ICIR earlier reported that voters in several areas, including Okitipupa, and Ondo South, expressed frustration over delays caused by faulty BVAS.

In some polling units, the devices failed to accredit voters promptly, leading to long queues and complaints about disenfranchisement.

At Obe Nla in Ward 4, Ilaje LGA, Ondo South, The ICIR observed how BVAS malfunctions dampened the voting process.

In Ondo West LGA) voter inducement was captured in a video by The ICIR, showing individuals distributing money to voters at 18, Omolare Street, near Polling Units 06 and 05 in Ward 7.

The organisation gathered that voters were offered N5,000, though the political party involved could not be verified.

After casting his vote on Saturday, Aiyedatiwa expressed confidence in his victory, hinging it on the work he had done in the last 10 months since assuming office as the governor of the state.

“We traversed the entire 18 local governments; and visited communities all across,” he said.

Aiyedatiwa and the  candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Agboola Ajayi, are both from the southern senatorial region of the state.

The ICIR reports that Ajayi was deputy to late Governor Rotimi Akeredolu between 2017 and 2021.

Following an unresolved feud between him and Akeredolu, the late governor replaced him with Aiyedatiwa while recontesting for the governorship office in 2020.

Aiyedatiwa succeeded the late governor on December 27, 2023, after his principal passed on after a prolonged illness.

Meanwhile, Ajayi said INEC poorly conducted the election after he cast his vote on Saturday.

It remains unclear when filing this report if he will accept the election results.

Ajayi voted at Apoi Ward 11, unit 004, at RCM Idumado Quarters, Kiribo, in his hometown, in Ese-Odo LGA of the state.

He slammed INEC for ‘failing’ to properly organise the election.

He cited widespread complaints about the late arrival of election materials and malfunctioning biometric voter accreditation system (BVAS) machines.

He also claimed that the election process was intentionally being sabotaged.

“All of us here have seen what’s going on. A lot of complaints here and there. If INEC cannot successfully organise an election in just one state, then you must know that you’re running into trouble,” Ajayi stated.

He added, “Even I, contesting in the election, had to wait up to 10 minutes before I could be allowed to cast my vote. A lot of women will go back to their houses out of frustration.”

Ajayi further accused the INEC and the resident electoral commissioner in the state  (Babalola) of deliberate attempts to disrupt the voting process.

“I think it’s deliberate on the part of INEC and REC. We have said severally that we don’t trust Oluwatoyin Babalola. This woman cannot be fair. I’ve made a series of calls today, and people are complaining about vote-buying, and BVAS machines are not working. Even if they were rigging tools for them, they’re not even working.”