Smart Adeyemi of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has been pronounced winner of the Kogi West senatorial district rerun election.
According to the result announced by the returning officer, Olajide Lawal, Adeyemi polled 88,373 votes to defeat the candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dino Melaye who recorded 62,133 votes.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had a week ago declared the election inconclusive because the margin between Mr Adeyemi and Mr Melaye is lower than the number of “registered voters in 53 polling units of the 20 registration areas in the zone where elections were cancelled.”
After the initial election, both candidates had respectively polled 80,118 and 59,548 votes.
The margin of 20,570 votes between the two candidates was far less than the 43,127 registered voters in the 53 polling units where elections were cancelled. Hence, the rerun.
Adeyemi is returning to the Senate about five years after he lost the seat to Melaye at the 2015 election.
