The Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) says a governorship candidate may not be declared
winner despite getting the highest number of votes in a state.
In a circular published on its
website, which carries INEC’s “regulations and guidelines for the conduct of
the 2019 elections,” the commission stated that for a governorship candidate to
be declared winner, he/she must emerge winner in at least one-quarter of total
votes cast in two-thirds of all the local government areas in the state.
On page 24 of the 33-page
document, the electoral body states that the collation/returning officer for a
state can only return as winner, any governorship candidate who “(i) has the
majority of votes cast at the election; (and) (ii) has not less than one quarter
of the votes cast at the election in each of at least two-thirds of all the
LGAs in the state.”
It adds that “where no candidate
meets the requirements of the majority of votes cast and the electoral
two-thirds, as provided in 41b (i) and (ii) above, a run-off election will be
organised by the commission within 21 days in line with the provisions of
Section 179 (2) to (5) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.”
Meanwhile, accreditation and
voting have begun in some states in the ongoing governorship and houses of
assembly elections.
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