The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Governor Yahaya Bello winner of the keenly contested 2019 Guber election in Kogi State. This is happening a few hours after the resumption of the announcement of Guber results.
Recall that INEC, through its Returning Officer for the Kogi Guber polls Prof.Ibrahim Umar had announced the results inconclusive on Sunday following the delay in the arrival of the results from Lokoja and Ibaji local governments.
The Returning Officer of INEC for the election and Vice-Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Prof Ibrahim Umar who announced the results said APC’s candidate Yahaya Bello won with a total of 406,222 votes to defeat his closest rival, Musa Wada of the Peoples Democratic Party who amassed 189,704 votes.
This victory came as a surprise to many who had predicted that the incumbent governor would lose his re-election bid due to the controversy surrounding the non-payment of civil servants in the North-Central state.
READ: Nigeria’s electoral body declares David Lyon winner of 2019 Bayelsa Guber polls
President Muhammadu Buhari has congratulated the re-elected governor. In a statement delivered through his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adeshina, President Buhari described the election and the victory of Yahaya Bello as “a race well run and a victory well won”.
He further praised the supporters of the ruling All Progressive Party for remaining steadfast and resolute even in the face of incidents of violence.
President Buhari also sympathized with the families of those who lost their lives in the violence that erupted during the election. He beckoned on stakeholders to make a conscious effort to stop electoral violence for a sustained democracy.
In his words, “all political actors and stakeholders must take deliberate steps to eschew electoral violence as a peaceful and orderly process is vital to our quest for enduring democracy”.