Electoral Commission announces result of Ekiti LG poll as PDP explains boycott

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has cleared Saturday’s Ekiti State local government councils poll, winning all the 35 council chairmanship seats and 176 out of the 177 councilorship seats declared.

Jide Aladejana, the Chairman of Ekiti State Independent Electoral Commission announced the result on Sunday in Ado-Ekiti.

Mr Aladejana said the commission postponed the councilorship election in Erinjiyan ward following the violence that broke out during the poll in the town.

He appreciated security agencies and the staff of the commission as well as the electorate for participating in the poll and for their cooperation for the successful conduct of the election.

The election was held across the 16 Local Government Areas (LGAs) and the 19 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) as well as the 177 wards of the state.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), boycotted the election, claiming that the APC-led administration in the state was incapable of organising credible, free and fair election without violence.

Six other political parties however participated in the election.

They included Action Alliance (AA), African Democratic Congress (ADC), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), All Progressives Congress (APC), National Rescue Movement (NRM), and Young Progressives Party (YPP).

Speaking on the election, Raphael Adeyanju, the publicity secretary of the Ekiti State chapter of the PDP, described the poll as a sham.

Mr Adeyanju said the result of the election and the obvious low turnout of voters confirmed the fear by the party that the result had already been predetermined by the ruling APC ahead of the poll.

The PDP spokesperson also described the conduct of election in the newly created LCDAs as unconstitutional, claiming that since the constitution of Nigeria only recognised the existing 16 LGAs in Ekiti State, the election in the 19 LCDAs was an aberration and a waste of resources. (NAN)

============