Led by about 19,000 votes, the candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Kayode Fayemi, cruised to a win over his closest rival, Professor Kolapo Olusola Eleka of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, in the governorship election held Saturday in Ekiti State. The results announced Sunday morning by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) saw Fayemi winning in 12 out of the 16 local government areas of the state.
The APC candidate, a former governor of the state, started coasting to victory early, as he led in many of the results declared at the polling centres not long after voting went under way Saturday. Though, he won in majority of the local government areas, the victories were by small margins, a situation that had seen the two main candidates running neck and neck as polling closed in the evening and collation of results continued in the local government areas.
Fayemi resigned as Minister of Solid Minerals recently to contest the governorship seat, while Olusola is the incumbent deputy governor.
Initial reports that trickled in from the local governments as voting progressed showed that PDP and APC had good showings in their strongholds and were almost level in the race.
The election admittedly witnessed pockets of violence and ballot box snatching. But the incidents, according to observers, fell short of the fears and concerns raised just before the election.
While declaring Mr Fayemi the winner of Saturday’s election, the Returning Officer, Idowu Olayinka, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, on Sunday said Mr Fayemi had satisfied the requirements of the law to be declared governor-elect of Ekiti State.