THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared the Osun governorship election inconclusive.

Ademola Adeleke, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and Gboyega Oyetola, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) ran neck to neck in the election.

Adeleke polled 254,698 votes to be in the lead while Oyetola trailed behind with 254, 345 votes.

Adeleke led with only 353 votes.

The election is purportedly the closest in governorship election history  in the country.

With this result, INEC has announced a rerun of the election in pooling units where voting was cancelled.

“Unfortunately as the returning officer, it’s not possible to declare anybody as the clear winner of the election on the first ballot,” said Joseph Fuwape, the presiding officer of the election at the INEC headquarters in Osogbo, the state capital.

He said number of registered voters in the polling units where elections were cancelled is 3,498, adding that since the figure is higher than the difference between the votes of the leading candidate, a re-run election will be conducted.

The rerun election will now take place on September 27 in the affected pooling units in Ife North, Ife South, Osogbo and Orolu local government areas.

Candidates from 48 political parties participated in the keenly contested election.