Governor Dapo Abiodun Will Be Sacked As Winner Of Ogun Election

Although the INEC declared Governor Dapo Abiodun as the winner of the just concluded governorship election in Ogun state, there is every tendency that he will be sacked when the election tribunal sits on the case.

The INEC State Returning Officer in the state, Kayode Adebowale, who announced the result on Sunday, said the APC candidate scored 276,298 votes to emerge the winner of the keenly contested election.

The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Ladi Adebutu, polled 262,383 votes to come second, thus trailing the winner with 13,915 votes.

However, the total number of cancelled votes stands at 33,750, far more above the margin of lead between the winner and the first runner up. This has put Governor Dapo Abiodun in a dangerous situation that will lead to the withdrawal of his victory.

The Margin of Lead Principle is provided for in Paragraph 33(e) of the Regulations and Guidelines for the Conduct of Elections 2019 which provides thus:

“Where the margin of lead between the two leading candidates in an election is NOT in excess of the total number of voters registered in Polling Units where elections are not held or voided in line with sections 26 and 53 of the Electoral Act, the returning officer shall decline to make a return until polls have taken place in the affected Polling Units and the results collated into the relevant forms for Declaration and Return. This is the Margin of Lead Principle and shall apply wherever necessary in making returns of all elections to which these Regulations and Guidelines apply.”

Simply put, it means that when the difference between the scores of Candidate A and B is less that the number of registered voters in areas where elections are not held or voided, such elections should be declared inconclusive.

This is the same thing that happened in Adamawa and Kebbi state which led to the declaration of the elections inconclusive. Of course, this is an error from the electoral commission but since the law is very clear on this, Dapo Abiodun is most likely going to be sacked as winner and another election will be conducted in the affected areas.