The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, winner of the Saturday’s governorship election in Ondo State.
The Returning Officer, Prof Olayemi Akinwunmi, declared Aiyedatiwa winner at state collation centre, INEC Ondo headquarters, Alagbaka, Akure.
Akinwunmi, who’s the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Lokoja, Kogi State, declared and returned the APC candidate elected at exactly 2:29 p.m.
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According to him, Aiyedatiwa polled 366,781 votes to defeat his major rival and candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Agboola Ajayi, who came distant second with 117,845 votes, while African Democratic Party’s Adeyemi Nejo came third with 4,138.
“That Aiyedatiwa Lucky Orimisan of the APC, having satisfied all the requirements of law and scored majority of the lawful votes, is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected,” Akinwunmi, a professor of African history, declared.
Daily Trust reports that the incumbent governor won all the 18 councils in the state to clinch a landslide victory in the election.
How Aiyedatiwa ascend to power
Having been declared the winner of the election, Aiyedatiwa is set to extend his stay at the helm of affairs in the oil-rich state. He – a former deputy governor – ascended to power on December 27, 2023 after Governor Rotimi Akeredolu’s death.
Akeredolu died on the same day after a lengthy battle with illness and had before his demise transmitted power to Aiyedatiwa.
He thereafter won the APC’s ticket for the 2024 governorship election in Ondo, pitting him against 17 other candidates including Agboola who was also a former deputy to Akeredolu during his first term in office.
Aiyedatiwa faced stiff competition from Agboola in the leadup to the election but in his campaigns, he promised a better economy and welfare package for workers across the state.
Expect Better Service, Aiyedatiwa Pledges
Speaking to reporters after he was declared as the winner of the poll, the Ondo governor promised better days for residents of the South-West state.
According to him, having visited every part of the state during campaigns, he is more in tune with the needs of the people.
“The people should expect better service. And that’s what they’ve been looking forward to because I campaigned across the entire local government,” he said.
“The only candidate that went through the entire local government, not just the capital city of the local government, all communities. In almost all the communities we visited, we saw the roads and the way they look like, the environment they are living in, we heard their voices, we read their messages and we listened and responded to questions and their yearnings and aspirations.
“So, they have that belief that their hope is in me. They believe that whatever we say is what we will do. We will not tell them what we cannot do. We will do all that we have promised within the limited resources available to us.”
He has now been elected to serve a term of four years as Ondo State governor.
