Melaye and Adeyemi. Battle for the Senate

Senator Smart Adeyemi has been declared the winner of Kogi West Senatorial Election. after a rerun poll conducted in some parts of the district on Saturday.

Professor Olajide Lawal, the Returning Officer for the election announced on Saturday after the collation of the result that Adeyemi who contested on the platform of All Progressives Congress, APC, polled a total of 88,373 votes to beat his closest challenger, Senator Dino Melaye of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who scored 62,133 votes.

The supplementary poll was conducted by INEC after the November 16 rerun election failed to produce a clear winner.

Adeyemi had polled 80,118 votes as against Senator Melaye’s 59,548 votes in the November 16 rerun, but the returning officer said that he was constrained by law to declare a winner because the margin of 20,570 votes between the two candidates was lower than the number of cancelled votes in 53 polling units across the senatorial district.

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC conducted a fresh election in the senatorial district following annulment of the February 23 poll won by Senator Melaye by the Court of Appeal in Abuja in a suit filed by Adeyemi.

With the victory, Adeyemi will replace Dino at the Senate.