Skip to main content

AKEREDOLU RETURNS AS ONDO STATE GOVERNOR


 Alade Boye


Mr Rotimi Akeredolu has been re-elected as Governor of Ondo State on the back of a campaign in which he promised to provide composed and focused leadership marked by economic growth and improved security for people in the state.

The incumbent governor, a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, swept to victory by winning 15 of the 18 local governments.

Governor Akeredolu of the All Progressives Congress got 292,830 votes, while Mr Eyitayo Jegede of the Peoples Democratic Party and Mr Agboola Ajayi of the Zenith Labour Party came second and third in the election with 195,791 and 69,127 votes, respectively.

“Having satisfied the requirement of the law and scored the highest number of votes, I hereby declare Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu of the APC as the winner, and he is hereby returned elected,” Chief Returning Officer for the election, Professor Olayinka said.

Professor Olayinka, who is the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, announced the winner on Sunday at the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in Akure, which doubles as the final collation centre.


It is the second time the governor is defeating the PDP candidate. In 2016, Akeredolu, with Ajayi as his running mate, defeated Jegede to win his first term as governor. Ajayi fell out with Akeredolu and chose to go against his boss this time around.


Residents of the state came out on Saturday, across 3,009 polling units of 203 electoral wards/ registration areas in the 18 Local Government Areas (LGA) of the state, to choose their leader for the next four years.


The poll, the second major election to be conducted since the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, was preceded by a dramatic campaign featuring 17 political parties and their candidates, all racing for the top political office in the south-western state.


Up to 11 contenders pulled out of the race in favour of other candidates just in the final days of the campaign with the trio of Akeredolu, Jegede and Ajayi emerging as the leading contenders.


Ajayi’s conflict with Governor Akeredolu was one of the intriguing issues that provided drama in the months preceding the election in the state.

After surviving an attempt by the State Assembly to impeach him, the deputy governor dumped the APC for the PDP. But after failing to secure the PDP’s governorship ticket, he joined the ZLP – the platform on which he contested.

Governor Akeredolu’s first tenure as governor will expire on February 23, 2021, with victory in the bag, he is on course to govern the state for another four years.

In the coming hours and days, it is expected that the opposition parties that fielded candidates in the poll will make their position on the outcome known.

Under the Nigerian Constitution, the outcome of a governorship election can be contested at the Election Petitions Tribunal and should aggrieved parties be dissatisfied, they can proceed to the Court of Appeal.


Any party who is still not satisfied with the decision of the appellate court is at liberty to approach the Supreme Court, which has the final say.


 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

ENCOURAGING THE AFRICAN START-UP ECOSYSTEM THROUGH TECH INNOVATIONS

Hon. Elvis Obi-Nwankwo, Special Adviser to Enugu state Governor on Innovation, Science and Technology. By: Agosu 'Tayo Once again, the administration of Enugu State has demonstrated the resolve to ensure that capacity building especially in the areas of Intellectual and entrepreneurial capacity building is given utmost priority while ensuring that the Nation continually remains relevant in the global scheme of things especially as it has to do with ICT, Block-chain Technology and other innovations while encouraging the sustenance of the startup ecosystem. In his Keynote address, the Special Adviser to the Enugu State Governor on Innovation, Science and Technology Hon. Elvis Obi-Nwankwo made it known while giving his key-note address at an event in Eko hotel Lagos state made it known the current administration in Enugu do everything possible to remain the Trailblazers in the Tech space of the country while extending their frontiers from South-East Nigeria to Germany and other parts ...

OYO ASSEMBLY HOLDS SPECIAL SESSION FOR FORMER GOVERNOR

By: Teni Aluko The Oyo state house of Assemby today held a special sitting in honour of the former governor of Oyo state Senator Abiola Ajimobi who left for the great beyond exactly week ago.  Abiola Ajimobi was the Oyo state governor between 2011-2019. He worked meritoriously and recorded quite a lot of landmarks during his tenure. Ajimobi was appointed Deputy National chairman South of the All progressives Congress before he died last week Thursday. The Speaker of the House of Assembly Rt Hon Debo Ogundoyin in his speech said the late governor was able to change the political landscape of the State through his three points agenda of Restoration, Transformation and Repositioning. ”He also  made his impact in governance, he greatly improved the environmental sanitation of the state especially in the Capital City of Ibadan.” Other lawmakers who spoke at the special sitting described Ajimobi as a great man whose immense contribution to the development of the state cannot be easi...

ADELOVE: BUILDING THE NOLLYWOOD INDUSTRY 24 YEARS AFTER

There’s probably no known acting Dynasty in today’s Nollywood as the Adeyemi ‘Adelove’ Afolayan Dynasty. Some prominent actors and pioneers of the Nigerian movie industry that passed on will always be remembered but the Adelove legacy will always be a mark of reference as his children keep flying the flag of their late father. The Adelove dynasty has made the Nation proud in various fora across the globe. Before the death of the Patriarch in 1996 as a result of complications of stroke, the Adelove family have been acting and till date they have kept his memories alive in the heart of his fans especially the older ones of his generation. This has confirmed the Yoruba saying that ” Ti ina ba ku, afi eru boju, ti ogede, ba ku, afi Omo e ropo’ meaning, ” when a fire dies it covers itself with its ashes and when a banana tree dies, it sprout forth another one.” They have been representing the name of, Adeyemi ‘Adelove’ Afolayan in various ways in Nollywood. Meet the children and sister of A...