By Mufta’u Balogun
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared the Osun governorship election inconclusive.
INEC’s Returning Officer, Joseph Afuwape, who announced the results on Sunday afternoon, said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Ademola Adeleke, polled 254,699 votes while Gboyega Isiaka Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress had 254,345 votes.
Iyiola Omisore of the Social Democratic Party polled 128,049 votes to place a distant third.
However, Afuwape said that since the difference between the two leading parties was just 353 votes but the number of cancelled votes was 3,5498, no winner had emerged.
“Unfortunately, as the Returning Officer, it is not possible to declare any party as the winner,” he said.
According to electoral rules, a re-run election can be so declared if the margin of victory in an election is lower than cancelled votes.
INEC is expected to formally announce the date of the rerun any moment from now.
