The Ondo State governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa has been declared the winner of the APC ward primary and the candidate of the party in the coming governorship election in the state.
Aiyedatiwa emerged winner with 48,569 votes in the primaries while fellow contender, Mayowa Akinfolarin, polled 15,343 votes, with Olusola Oke coming in third position with 14,865 votes.
He was declared the winner by the Chairman of the Governorship Primary Election Committee and Governor of Kogi State, Ahmed Ododo, in the early hours of Monday, who also noted that the electoral process went ”smoothly” with little skirmishes recorded.
Lucky Aiyedatiwa who became the governor of Ondo state following the demise of his boss Rotimi Akeredolu defeated 15 other aspirants to clinch the ticket of the party ahead of the November 16 gubernatorial elections in the state.
The Ondo state governor coasted to victory in 16 of the 18 LGAs losing out on Ilaje LGA to third-placed Oke who also hailed from the council by a margin of 26 votes, while incidents of violence marred the election in Ifedore leading to cancellation of results.
The APC primary election, which started on Saturday, was marred by allegations of irregularities while there were demands for cancellation by the leading contenders.
Several aspirants alleged that no election took place in most parts of the state.
Despite the criticism and controversy surrounding the election, the Kogi state governor Ododo, insisted that the process was transparent.
The primary election took place across 203 wards in the 18 LGAs of the state.
The election was rescheduled in all 13 wards of Okitipupa LGA over the late arrival of materials. The rescheduled election, held on Sunday, recorded a low turnout of voters in some wards.
Members of the party staged a protest in Akure on Sunday evening over the conduct of the governorship election.
Adeniran Oyebade, director-general for Olusola Oke campaign organisation in Ondo central, described the primary as “daylight robbery”.