JUST IN: APC’s Ododo floors Ajaka and Dino Melaye to win Kogi governorship election

Ododo, an ex-Auditor General of Local Government in Kogi under Governor Yahaya Bello, was the anointed candidate of the governor who is ending his double terms of eight years.

Melaye and some civil rights groups had on Saturday, raised the alarm over “filled result sheets” in the Ogori/Magongo Local Government Area of the North Central state. The PDP candidate also called for the suspension of the exercise over violence and vote buying. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) subsequently suspended election in nine wards in the local government area.

Late Sunday, INEC said fresh polls will be conducted in 59 polling units in the Ogori/Magongo Local Government Area of the state on November 18, 2023.

INEC, however, introduced a condition for the polls to be held in the 59 polling units, saying that “the decision to hold fresh elections is subject to the Returning Officer’s determination of the application of the Margin of Lead Principle”.

In his declaration late Sunday, Urama said the total number of Permanent Voter Cards in the affected polling units was put at 16,247, one that was insignificant to the about 200,000 votes gathered by the APC candidate ahead of his closest rival – Ajaka.