The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has declared Biodun Oyebanji of the All Progressives Congress winner of Saturdays Ekiti governorship election.
Oyebanji polled a total of 187,057 votes to defeat his two closest challengers Segun Oni of the Social Democratic Party and Bisi Kolawole of the People’s Democratic Party.
The SDP emerged in second place with total votes of 82,211 while the PDP was third with 67,457 votes.
Oyebanji is now set to replace incumbent Kayode Fayemi in October.
Oyebanji had during last week’s Ekiti governorship debate, one of his final public appeals to voters, said no society can grow greater than the vision and dream of its leader.
According to independent observers, the election, which was marred with reports of vote-buying and violence, was largely peaceful.
According to INEC, 988,923 registered voters were expected to participate in the exercise.
However, only 363,438 voters were accredited.
The polls officially opened at around 8:30 am (WAT) on Saturday and were expected to close at 2:30 pm (WAT).
Some voters who stormed polling units to exercise their franchise vowed not to sell their votes.
But reports of massive vote-buying soon surfaced, prompting the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to embark on a raid and make some arrests.
Some voters were also sighted scrambling for money during the election.