Jonathan defeats ACN in Lagos

The Lagos State Collation Officer of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Bola Akinteyinwa, has declared the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, President Goodluck Jonathan, as the winner of the 2011 presidential election in the state which was held on Saturday. Jonathan scored 1,281,688 representing 65.9 per cent of the 1,945,044 valid votes cast in Lagos on Saturday. Akinteyinwa, while announcing the result after collation on Sunday morning, said the candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, scored 427,203 votes representing 21.96 per cent of the ballot to come second in the state. He added that Jonathan’s main rival in the election, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, who is the candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change, polled 189, 983 representing 9.7 per cent of the votes to come a distant third. Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau of the All Nigeria Peoples Party had 8,941 votes representing 0.46 per cent of the total votes cast. The state collation officer added that the result would be sent to the headquarters of INEC in Abuja after the party agents of the major players had signed the result. In the breakdown of the poll in Lagos State, Jonathan won in 19 of the 20 local government areas that make up the state. He, however, lost to the ACN candidate at Ibeju-Lekki Local Government Area, where he scored 13,223 as against 14,321 recorded by Ribadu. The local government is known to be the stronghold of the PDP in the state. Speaking on the outcome of the election in Lagos, the ACN party agent, Mr. Ademola Sadiq, a lawyer, expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the election, particularly in the polling unit where he voted. “Generally, the conduct of the election is peaceful and open but that is at the polling unit where I voted. Our party will wait for the reports of all our agents on the field before we can give a definite comment on the election,” he said. Also, the PDP agent at the state collation centre, Mr. Bode Oyedele, expressed happiness at the outcome of the election, saying that his party worked hard for the victory. By Segun Olugbile Courtesy Of:Punch