Mbah polled a total of 160,895 votes to defeat his closest rival, Chijioke Edeoga of the Labour Party, who secured 157,552 votes
By Kehinde Okeowo
After several days of waiting, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has finally declared the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Enugu State governorship election, Peter Mbah, as the winner of the guber poll in the state.
INEC had on Monday suspended the collation of results and declaration of the winner of the poll following allegations of over-voting and results manipulation in Nkanu East and Nsukka Local Government Areas of the state.
However, The INEC state Collation and Returning Officer, Prof Maduebibisi Ofo Iwe, returned on Wednesday, to declare PDP’s Mbah as the winner of Saturday’s election, after the results of the controversial Nkanu East Local Government Area results were finally collated.
According to Iwe, Mbah polled a total of 160,895 votes to defeat his closest rival, Chijioke Edeoga of the Labour Party, who polled a total of 157,552 votes.
He said: “That Mbah of the PDP having scored the highest number of votes cast and having satisfied the requirements of the law is hereby declared the winner and he is returned elected.”
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He went on to say the total number of registered voters in Enugu State is 2,112,793; the Number of accredited voters is 381,971. The total valid votes cast is 358,463; Rejected votes are 9,088 while the Total votes cast are 367,551.
Reacting to the announcement, the LP agent, Dr Eugene Edeoga, said “I am glad that the case made against Nsukka is not sustained. And the case made against Nkanu East was sustained.
“However, the rule is that when over-voting is established and the non-use of BVAS in the election had been established, the penalty is a cancellation. I want to ask whether the rules have changed.”
The returning officer replied saying the result declared is the decision the electoral commission arrived at.
