BURUKU (Benue) – The Independent Electoral Commission has declared Mr John Tiav of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), winner of the re-contested Buruku Federal Constituency seat in Benue State.
In a re-election held on Saturday in Buruku, Tiav scored 25,988 votes to defeat Mr John Tine of the Labour Party, who scored 3,602.
Mr Sekav Iyortyom of the All Progressive Congress scored 395 votes.
Alhaji Baba Abba-Yusuf, Benue Resident Commissioner, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) , who also served as the returning officer, said Tiav met all requirements of the Electoral Act to be declared winner.
Abba-Yusuf who announced the result on Sunday in Buruku, said that the PDP candidate scored the highest number of votes.
He said that 101,198 eligible voters registered for the election, but only 30,378 turned out for the exercise.
He also commended both the candidates and their supporters for their peaceful conduct throughout the period of the election.
The APC candidate withdrew from the contest a day to the election.
NAN reports that the Supreme Court had overturned the outcome of the first election conducted in 2011, and ordered for a fresh conduct, while excluding its previous winner, Mr Orker Jev of the APC.
An aspirant of the party, Mr Sekav Iyortyom, had challenged the outcome of the party’s primaries on the grounds that it was not won by Jev, who was declared winner by the party.
The aspirant had alleged that his name was fraudulently replaced with that of Jev, who later went to the House of Representatives to represent the constituency.
The court granted the prayers of Sekav and ordered for a fresh election.(NAN)
