Governor Rauf Aregbesola on Wednesday declared Thursday, September 27, 2018 as public holiday to enable electorate to vote in the Osun State rerun governorship election.
A statement by media aide to the governor, Sola Fasure, noted that the public holiday was to enable workers to participate in the rerun governorship election after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the September 22 exercise inconclusive.
The governorship election was declared inconclusive and a rerun ordered because the number of cancelled votes was higher than the margin between the two top candidates.
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Ademola Adeleke, was leading with 254,698 votes, while his closest rival of All Progressives Congress (APC), Gboyega Oyetola, had 254,345 votes, a difference of 353 votes.
The margin was, however, less than the 3,498 votes in the polling units where voting was cancelled.
Consequently, INEC returning officer for the election, Prof. Joseph Afuwape, declared the poll inconclusive and ordered a re-run.
“Unfortunately as the returning officer, it is not possible to declare any party as clear winner of this election at the first ballot,” Afuwape said.
