By Ademu Idakwo, Abuja , Alo Abiola, Ado-Ekiti
The All Progressives Congress (APC) opened a commanding lead in the Ekiti State governorship election on Saturday as results from polling units continued to appear on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Result Viewing (IReV) Portal amid ongoing collation across the state.
Data aggregated from results already uploaded to the IReV portal showed APC maintaining a wide margin over its rivals.
Of the 2,128 polling units uploaded out of the total 2,445 across the state, APC secured 167,282 votes, while the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) polled 25,079 votes and the African Democratic Congress (ADC) recorded 5,977 votes.
The figures reflected only results already transmitted to IReV and did not constitute the official declaration of the election, which remained the responsibility of INEC after completion of state collation.
The accelerated upload of results added momentum to expectations that the commission could announce the official outcome later in the day.
Earlier in the evening, INEC disclosed that results from 2,048 polling units had already been uploaded to the portal as of 6:41 p.m., representing 83.7 per cent of total polling units statewide.
The figure represented a sharp rise from the earlier upload level of 35.5 per cent and signalled increased transmission activity as counting and collation progressed.
The development came as INEC also announced that 92.31 per cent of polling units across Ekiti opened on schedule during Saturday’s governorship election.
In an update issued on its official X account after voting concluded in most locations, the commission stated that all 2,445 designated polling units eventually opened and conducted voting.
According to INEC, 2,257 polling units, representing 92.31 per cent, commenced operations before 8:30 a.m., while 188 polling units, or 7.69 per cent, experienced delays but opened before 10:30 a.m.
“Voting has officially ended in most Polling Units across Ekiti State following the close of polls at 2:30 p.m.
“Earlier in the day, all 2,445 Polling Units were successfully opened for the Governorship Election: 2,257 PUs (92.31%) opened on schedule before 8:30 a.m.
“188 PUs (7.69%) experienced minor delays but commenced voting before 10:30 a.m. The process remained peaceful and orderly,” the commission stated.
The election, which attracted national attention as one of Nigeria’s key off-cycle governorship contests, featured 14 candidates.
Incumbent Governor Biodun Oyebanji of the APC sought re-election ahead of the expiration of his first term in October.
Other leading contenders included Dr Wole Oluyede of the PDP, Ambassador Dare Bejide of the ADC, Oyebanji Olajuyin of the Labour Party (LP), and Blessing Abegunde of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).
Results started appearing on IReV hours after voting and counting concluded in several locations following public attention over delays in online uploads.
Across many parts of Ekiti, voting commenced early as election officials, electoral materials and security personnel arrived at polling centres on schedule.
Reports monitored by our correspondent indicated that by 8:00 a.m., many INEC officials had reached their assigned polling units and commenced preparations for accreditation and voting.
