The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is set to begin the collation and announcement of the final results of Saturday’s Bayelsa State governorship election.
The commission had Saturday postponed the exercise till Sunday, as only the result of one out of the eight local government areas of the state was ready at the time.
INEC returning officer, Farouk Kuta, had while briefing journalits at the state headquarters of the commission in Yenagoa, the state capital, Saturday night,
said the collation could not start because he was not sure if the results of other local government areas would be ready before midnight.
He consequently postponed collation till Sunday by 10 a.m.
A total of 16 candidates, including two women, featured in the off-cycle Bayelsa State governorship election on Saturday. Kogi and Imo states were the two other states where governorship elections simultaneously held on Saturday.
However, analysts say the Bayelsa State governorship poll is a two-horse race between the incumbent, Governor Douye Diri, and a former governor of the state, Timipre Sylva.
Mr Diri, who is seeking a second term in office, is running on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) while Mr Sylva is the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
According to the electoral commission, 1,017,613 out of 1,056, 862 total registered voters collected their Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs). Only those with their PVCs were eligible to vote in the Saturday’s election.
Voters cast their ballots at 2, 242 designated polling units spread across the oil-rich state on Saturday.
PREMIUM TIMES earlier provided updates of results from the polling units across the eight local government areas of the state.
Now that the collation has reached the final stage, we will be providing the updates of the local government areas results real time as they are announced by INEC.
