Senate President, Bukola Saraki has lost his re-election bid to return to the Senate as he was floored by the All Progressives Congress, APC, senatorial candidate, Ibrahim Oloriegbe.
While Oloriegbe polled a total of 123,808, Saraki who contested under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), trailed with 68,994 votes, leaving a margin of 54,814 votes.
The results were announced at the collation center of the senatorial district in Ilorin, the state capital, it was gathered.
Saraki lost all the four local government areas in the senatorial district.
In Ilorin south, Oloriegbe had 26,331 while Saraki secured 13,013 votes. In Ilorin east, Oloriegbe polled 30,014 votes while Saraki got 14,654. In Asa, Oloriegbe polled 15,932 while Saraki got 11,252 votes. In Ilorin west, his local government, Oloriegbe, garnered 51,531 votes ahead of Saraki who had 30,075 votes.
Like Saraki, Oloriegbe is a medical doctor. He was a member of the the state assembly between 1999 and 2003. In 2011, when Saraki first contested the senatorial election, he defeated Oloriegbe who ran on the platform of the then Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).
Saraki was a member of the APC until the crisis between the executive and legislature made him return to the PDP where he spent his two terms as governor of Kwara state.
He was among the aggrieved PDP members who formed nPDP and teamed up with the APC to win the 2015 general election.
He sought the presidential ticket of the PDP but lost to Atiku Abubakar who later appointed him the director-general of his campaign.
It was a double loss for Saraki in this election as he also could not deliver Kwara for Atiku. The O’ to’ge movement led by Lai Mohammed, minister of information, played a key role in the loss of the senate president.
Ashiru wins Kwara South
In the meantime, the INEC moving forward also on Sunday declared the All APC’s candidate of the Kwara South senatorial district Lola Ashiru as winner of the contest.
The Returning Officer for the election, Prof. Sylvia Malom while declaring the result at the Irepodun Local Government Secretariat in Omu-Aran, said Ashiru polled 89, 704 to emerge winner.
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Senator Rafiu Ibarhim, Ashiru’s closest rival in the election, polled 45, 176 votes.
Malomo said Ashiru having scored the highest number of votes in the election was declared winner and returned elected.She gave the total number of total registered voters as 432, 499, the total valid votes as 136, 889, total number of rejected votes as 3, 119 and total number of votes cast 140, 006.
