The incumbent Governor of Kwara State, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has been declared the winner of Saturday’s Governorship election.
With the declaration by INEC at about 17:18 GMT (6.18pm local) on Sunday at the collation centre at the Commission’s headquarters in Ilorin, AbdulRazaq has won the official mandate for a second term in office as the Governor of the state.
The Governor won in all the sixteen local government areas of the state.
Declaring the results, the state Collation and Returning Officer and Vice Chancellor of the University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Professor Isaac Nathaniel Idoto, said AbdulRazaq polled 273,424 while his closest rival, Alhaji Shuaib Yaman of the People’s Democratic PDP, scored 155,850.
The Returning officer declared: “that AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of APC, having satisfied the requirements of the law, he is hereby declared the winner and returned elected.”
Reacting to the declaration, the APC chairman in the state, Sunday Fagbemi, said the victory of Governor AbdulRazaq is a reflection of the preference of Kwarans of whom they want to govern them.
He thanked the people of the state for choosing the ruling party in the just concluded poll, just like they did during the presidential election.
Fagbemi expressed hope that the expectations of the people of the state would not be cut short because they are pleased with the ongoing progress in the state.
In a similar reaction, the agent of the PDP, Anu Ibiwoye said ”in any contest, there will always be a winner and a loser but his party would proceed to study the full results”.
He however appealed to members of the party to remain calm and continue to support the party.
Olusola Akintonde
