Osun Election: INEC Declares APC’s Oyetola Gov-Elect as International Observers Raise Eyebrow

Segun Atanda/

Almost 12 hours after the supplementary governorship election in Osun State ended Thursday, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) today declared the All Progressives Congress victorious over its arch-rival, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The parties today contested for a total of 3, 498 votes in seven polling units where election did not hold or results were cancelled on September 22, when PDP was ahead of APC with 353 votes.

According to INEC’s Returning Officer, Prof Joseph Adeola Fuwape, the APC candidate, Mr Gboyega Oyetola scored 255, 505 votes against PDP’s Senator Ademola Adeleke’s 255, 023 votes in the overall collation.

NewsmakersNG learnt that the result is the closest in Nigeria’s election history.

International observers have, however, discredited the exercise.

In a joint press conference held in Osogbo, the Osun State capital on Thursday night, the observers led by U.S. Consul General, Mr John Bray, stated: “The missions of the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom observed voting at polling stations in Osun today. We witnessed what appeared to be incidences of interference and intimidation of voters and heard reports of harassment of party monitors, journalists and domestic observers.

“We are very concerned by this reports and we’ll be checking with stakeholders to determine the facts. We call on all stakeholders to remain calm.”