INEC declares Kogi west rerun inconclusive

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared the Kogi west senatorial rerun election inconclusive.

Olayinde Lawal, the returning officer, made the announcement on Sunday night.

He said the number of cancelled votes is higher than the margin between Smart Adeyemi, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and Dino Melaye of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Lawal announced that Adeyemi polled a total of 80,118 votes, while Melaye got 59,548 votes. leaving a margin of  20,570 while 43,127 votes were cancelled.

Lawal said he declared the election inconclusive in accordance with the electoral act, adding that the date for supplementary election would be announced later.

The supplementary poll would hold in 53 polling units.

Melaye had earlier called for a cancellation of the election which he described as a sham.

Below is a breakdown of how the two leading candidates fared across the seven local government areas in Kogi west senatorial district:

Kabba/Bunu LGA
APC-15,037
PDP-8,974

Ijumu LGA
APC-11,627
PDP-7,647

Kogi/Koton Karfe LGA
APC-14,168
PDP-9,786

Mapo/Muro LGA
APC-4,874
PDP-3,704

Yagba East LGA
APC-6,683
PDP-7,745

Yagba West LGA
APC-7,941
PDP-8,980

Lokoja LGA
APC-19,788
PDP-12,712