In 26 states where winners of the March 18 polls have been announced, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has started presenting certificates of return to the governors-elect.
Festus Okoye, the national commissioner for INEC, observed in a statement that Section 72(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 mandates that the Commission issues a certificate of return to every candidate who has been returned elected within 14 days.
In view of this, INEC decided that the days on which the March 18 election winners would receive their certificates of return would be Wednesday (today) and Friday.
Additionally, the electoral body says each state’s INEC headquarters would host the presentations.
The Returning Governors
The ruling APC won in 15 states, including seven re-elected governors Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos), Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq (Kwara), Inuwa Yahaya (Gombe), Mai Mala Muni (Yobe), Abdullahi Sule (Nasarawa), Babagana Zulum (Borno).
The party also secured wins for eight new candidates: Umar Namadi (Jigawa), Ahmed Aliyu (Sokoto), Dikko Radda (Katsina), Uba Sani (Kaduna), Bassey Otu (Cross River), Mohammed Bago (Niger), Hyacinth Alia (Benue), and Francis Nwifuru (Ebonyi).
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On the other hand, the PDP secured nine victories including two re-elected governors: Seyi Makinde (Oyo) and Bala Mohammed (Bauchi).
Seven first-term governors were also elected on the platform of the opposition party.
They are Peter Mbah (Enugu), Umo Eno (Akwa Ibom), Siminialayi Fubara (Rivers), Kefas Agbu (Taraba), Caleb Mutfwang (Plateau), and Sheriff Oborevwori (Delta).
Dauda Lawal of the PDP defeated Bello Matawalle of the APC, who had been the state governor of Zamfara, in an unprecedented victory.
Similar to how Abba Kabir of the NNPP defeated the APC in Kano State, Alex Otti of the LP won Abia, a state that had previously belonged to the PDP.
In all, the All Progressives Congress (APC) won in 15 states and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in nine, while the Labour Party (LP) and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) won in one state each.
