INEC Fixes Date, Time To Resume Results Collation In Abuja

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is set to resume the national collation of results today (Monday) by 11am.

Naija News reports that the Chairman of the electoral body, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, made this known while addressing the press at the National Collation Centre on Sunday.

Yakubu said the adjournment was to allow the commission to make a special arrangement to bring the remaining State Returning Officers to Abuja.

He said the commission was confident that other states would conclude the collation and bring the results to Abuja for final collation.

The result of the presidential election was presented to the INEC chairman, who is the Chief Returning Officer, by the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Health Sciences, Ila Orogun, Prof Akin Olawole Salami.

The results, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, scored 210,494 to defeat 17 other candidates.

Former vice president and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) scored 89,554 to place second. Former Anambra State Governor and candidate of the Labour Party (LP) Peter Obi scored 11,397, to place third.

Scores by other parties are A-69, AA-29, AAC-108, ADC-1,337, ADP-737, APGA-268, APM-46, APP-91, BP- 46, NNPP-264, NRM-131, PRP-48, SDP-2011, YPP-81, ZLP-460.

Prof Salami said elections in two polling units were cancelled for bypassing the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and over-voting.

Responding to a question from the PDP agent, Senator Dino Melaye, Salami said: “We discovered that the number of accredited voters as contained in the BVAS was more than the number of votes cast leading to overvoting and therefore, the result had to be cancelled.”

The British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Campbell Laing and the US Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard as well as the National Chairman of the APC, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, witnessed the exercise.

Thereafter, Yakubu asked whether other Returning Officers from States and FCT were available and in the absence of none, the National Returning Officer adjourned till Monday by 11pm when it was expected that other results from across the country might have arrived at the National Collation Centre.

As of the time of filing this report, results from 35 States of the Federation and FCT Abuja were being awaited for a formal announcement.