Results from at least two polling units in Ife Central Local Government Area of Osun State were cancelled during the collation of results on Saturday after observers reported over-voting.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced the cancellation of results from some polling units in Osun State over over-voting and other irregularities, Election observers deployed by the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) on Saturday noted.
Similarly, at about 10:25 p.m., the observer also reported the cancellation of the result from Polling Unit 17 in Registration Area 4 (Ilare IV), also in Ife Central LGA, over alleged over-voting.
The final result announced at the Ife Central LGA collation centre at about 10:43 p.m. showed that 39,330 votes were cast from 39,990 accredited voters.
Of the votes cast, 38,380 were valid while 950 were rejected.
The Accord Party (A) secured 21,171 votes to emerge as the leading party in the LGA, while the All Progressives Congress (APC) polled 15,913 votes.
Other parties recorded the following results: AA, 137 votes; AAC, 90; ADC, 747; ADP, 86; APGA, 71; APM, three; BP, eight; NNPP, five; PRP, three; SDP, 12; YPP, 25; and ZLP, 102. The APP recorded no vote.
The LGA had 122,454 registered voters, with 39,990 accredited to vote.
Meanwhile, the CJID observer reported that voting did not take place at Polling Unit 14 after voters reportedly refused to participate, citing a shortage of ballot papers.
“Election wasn’t conducted at PU 14 because the electorates refused to vote. The electorates claimed there was shortage of ballot papers,” the observer said.
According to the observer, although the number of ballot papers supplied was lower than the number of registered voters at the polling unit, it was higher than the number of collected Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).
The observer said efforts by the Electoral Officer and the Resident Electoral Commissioner to resolve the disagreement were unsuccessful.
The results from the 30 local government areas of Osun State are being announced at the respective LGA collation centres.
PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that voting commenced at about 8:30 a.m. across polling units in the 30 local government areas of the state.
Voter turnout in some LGAs was described as impressive, while low turnout was reported in other areas. PREMIUM TIMES correspondents on the ground also reported several cases of vote trading at polling units across the state.
Fifteen political parties are participating in the election. However, results emerging from polling units so far suggest a close contest between the Accord Party candidate and incumbent governor, Ademola Adeleke, and the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Bola Oyebamiji.
According to the INEC, Osun State has 2,399,233 registered voters. Of this number, 1,906,390 collected their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) and were eligible to vote across 332 wards and 30 local government areas of the state.
