INEC declares Obaseki winner of Edo governorship election

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Mr Godwin Obaseki of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winner of the Edo State governorship election held on Wednesday.
Obaseki polled 319,483 to defeat his closest rival, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), who scored 253,173 votes.
The Returning Officer, Prof. Kayode Soremekum, who is also the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, declared Obaseki as winner, having scored the highest valid votes.
Soremukum said there were 1, 900, 223 registered voters, while 662,039 of the registered voters were accredited with 613, 244 voters casting their votes in the election.
He said 582, 299 of the votes cast were recorded as valid with 30, 945 as rejected votes, saying the total percentage turned out was 32.74.
“I, Prof. Kayode Soremekun, as the returning officer of the Edo governorship election held on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2016, hereby states that election was contested in the state.
“Godwin Obaseki, having satisfied the requirements of the law, by scoring the highest number of votes, is hereby declared winner and is returned elected,” he said.