FOR the first time in Ondo State’s electoral history, an incumbent governor genuinely beat the odds to emerge winner in his bid for a second term of office.
After a keen contest between Governor Olusegun Mimiko and his closest rivals in the People Democratic Party, PDP, and the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, declared the governor as winner.
Following Governor Mimiko’s massive lead of 260, 199 votes was the candidate of the PDP, Mr. Olusola Oke, who polled 155, 512 votes, beating the Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led ACN to a distant third place of 143, 512 votes.
Governor Mimiko’s win broke a jinx of sorts in Ondo State: none of his predecessors – Michael Ajasin, Adebayo Adefarati, Bamidele Olumilua and Olusegun Agagu – ran successfully for second term in office.
A congratulatory message was promptly issued by President Jonathan’s office in Abuja, urging Mimiko “to be prepared to work even harder to justify the fresh mandate given to him by the people of Ondo state who voted for his re-election on Saturday.”
In the message, contained in a Sunday press release signed by the president’s chief media aide, Dr. Reuben Abati, President Jonathan assured Governor Mimiko that the federal government was prepared to continue working in synch with the governor’s administration for the overall progress of the state.
“President Jonathan assures Dr. Mimiko that the Federal Government will continue to engage constructively and positively with the Ondo State Government in collaborative efforts to achieve faster socio-economic development and better living conditions for people in the state and all other parts of Nigeria,” the statement said.
Sunday’s result was announced by INEC’s returning officer Adebiyi Daramola, who is also the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology in Akure. According to Mr. Daramola who made the announcement in a live broadcast monitored by sharpedgenews.com in Akure, there was a total of 1,638,950 registered voters, of which 645,597 were accredited to vote in the Saturday election.
A total of 624,659 votes were cast on Saturday, of which 30,415 were invalid. Below is a detailed breakdown of the election results, as provided by the Electoral Commission:
|
Govt |
ACN |
LP |
PDP |
Valid Votes |
|
AKOKO SOUTH EAST |
3,330 |
6,316 |
3,425 |
13, 582 |
|
AKOKO SOUTH WEST |
13, 623 |
11, 833 |
12,331 |
39, 310 |
|
AKURE NORTH |
5,671 |
10,857 |
4,916 |
23, 195 |
|
AKOKO NORTH EAST |
8,693 |
12,153 |
6,847 |
|
|
ONDO EAST |
2, 759 |
8,404 |
3,933 |
16,272 |
|
OSE |
6,376 |
11,071 |
5,833 |
24, 620 |
|
AKURE SOUTH |
11,955 |
49,915 |
12,467 |
79,959 |
|
IDANRE |
5,111 |
15,990 |
5,923 |
29,789 |
|
ILE-OLUJI/OKEIGBO |
9,061 |
11,945 |
6,521 |
29,111 |
|
OWO |
17,967 |
14,870 |
6,058 |
41,265 |
|
IRELE |
5,066 |
9,435 |
9, 341 |
25,343 |
|
OKITIPUPA |
8,495 |
11,968 |
21,024 |
43,295 |
|
ONDO WEST |
7,225 |
31,280 |
6,669 |
49,382 |
|
AKOKO NORTH WEST |
9,138 |
11,675 |
7,847 |
29,706 |
|
IFEDORE |
5,522 |
11,062 |
3,978 |
22,223 |
|
ESE-ODO |
2, 987 |
9, 139 |
7, 295 |
|
|
ILAJE |
5,793 |
8,538 |
19,281 |
38,506 |
|
ODIGBO |
14,740 |
13,748 |
12,272 |
47,235 |