The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has formally declared Yahaya Bello, the substitute governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as governor-elect of Kogi State.

In the supplementary poll on Saturday, Bello won 6,885 votes to take APC’s unassailable lead to 247,742, while the incumbent governor, Idris Wada, got 5,363 votes, taking PDP’s total to 204,877.

Declaring the results in Lokoja, the Chief Returning Officer for the election, Prof. Emmanuel Kucha, who is the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, said having fulfilled all legal requirements, Alh. Yahaya Bello is declared winner of the election and Kogi Governor-Elect.

Kucha declared: “That Yahaya Bello, having polled the highest number of votes and satisfied the law is hereby returned elected”.

On the fate of the party concerning the running mate to Yahaya Bello, INEC declared that James Abiodun Faleke is the deputy governor-elect.

As INEC declared Audu’s replacement, Yahaya Bello, the winner of the election, a PDP agent at the state collation centre challenged the nomination of Bello as governorship candidate by the APC.

He argued that the APC candidate was not “known”, and that the politician had no deputy owing to the withdrawal of Faleke.

Responding, Amina Zakari, the INEC national commissioner, declared that Faleke remained Bello’s deputy because his party, the APC,  had not withdrawn his nomination even though he had written to the electoral umpire informing it of his intention to pull out of the race.

“Unless the party withdraws a candidate, his letter is not enough, and unless the proper channel is followed which is through the party,” he said. She asked the PDP to seek redress in court.