The candidate of the All Progressive Congress, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, seems to be on the verge of victory, as the All Progressive Congress is leading in the already announced results from 15 local government areas.
The collation officer said they are waiting for the arrival of results from the remaining local governments, which he said are very far from Akure, the capital city.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has gone for a second recess after adding two Local Government Areas to the 13 results earlier announced.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) continues to hold a commanding lead with 15 LGAs revealed so far, followed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
In his announcement of the break, the collation officer, Prof. Olayemi Akinwunmi, stated that it was necessary to wait for the arrival of results from the remaining local governments, which he claimed were located far from the capital city of Akure.
Prof. Akinwunmi said, “I think we can just adjourn till noon, please; two remaining local governments are not here, yes, so we adjourn till noon. The local governments, Ilaje and Ese Odo, are very far, so we need to give the time to arrive here, but we resume 12 noon.”
The 15 Local Government Areas already declared include Ifedore, Ondo East, Ileoluji Oke-Igbo, Idanre, Irele, Akoko South West, Owo, Ondo West, Akoko South East, Akoko North West, Ose, Akoko North East, Akure South, Akure North, and Okitipupa.
Ese Odo, Odigbo, and Ilaje are the three local governments yet to be announced as of the time of this report.
According to reports, only one of the 15 local governments already announced has raised a conflict. PDP alleged issues of vote buying, ballot box snatching, and no election in some areas in Idanre and requested that the returning officer reject results from there.
Speaking to reporters in Akure, the capital of Ondo State, prior to the collation of results, INEC’s National Commissioner Prof. Kunle Ajayi gave the people of Ondo the assurance that the results will be announced by 6 a.m.
“I can assure you that until we declare the winner, we won’t leave here. We will wait until the last local government before we leave.
“I don’t have any fear that even by 6am, maybe everything would have been over,” the National Commissioner added.
Meanwhile, police have tightened security as the final collations reaches a climax as they were seen surveilling the premises in Alagbaka.
Earlier, one of the civil society groups that monitored the Ondo State governorship election, Yiaga Africa, described the process as largely peaceful and orderly.
According to them, although there were some cases of attempted vote-buying, that did not cast a dark cloud on the outcome of the exercise.
“So far the process is commendable; we went round and we have seen the level of efforts INEC has put in with respect to coordination. The logistics, though they were challenges, are commendable,” a Yiaga Africa representative on the field said.
“The setup was okay; voting was okay except for a few areas where there were skirmishes associated with thugs and these are also issues that are linked to the desperation of political parties and politicians,” he added. The voting process has since ended, and results are being expected, with residents of the state and millions across the country waiting keenly for the outcome of the poll.
