Benue Governor, Ortom commends PDP, voters

Gov. Samuel Ortom of Benue has commended the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun for taking the lead in the inconclusive Sept. 22 governorship election in the state.

Ortom gave the commendation in a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Terver Akase and made available to newsmen on Sunday in Abuja.

The PDP candidate Sen. Ademola Adeleke, took the lead in the election declared inconclusive by the INEC with 254,698 votes, closely followed by APC’s candidate, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola who polled 254, 345 votes.

Ortom said that the conduct of the Osun election reflected the resolve of many Nigerians to give their mandate to the PDP in the 2019 general elections.

The governor also commended the people of Osun for the peaceful manner they conducted themselves during the poll.

Ortom urged them to sustain their support for the PDP and complete the good work they had started on the day of the re-run.

Prof. Joseph Fuwape, the Returning Officer for the election, on Sunday in Osogbo, declared the poll inconclusive because of cases of ballot box snatching in some polling units.

Fuwape said that the incident which occurred in Ife North, Ife South, Orolu and Osogbo led to the cancellation of 3498 votes.

He said that a winner could not be announced because the number of cancelled votes was more than the difference between the scores of the two leading candidates.

He announced Sept. 27 as date for the re-run in the affected polling units.