Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers State has been reelected for a second term in office.
Mr Wike who ran the gubernatorial race on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was announced on Wednesday as the winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the election which took place on March 9.
Due to security reasons, collation of results for the March 9 exercise was suspended and resumed this week.
According to INEC, Wike polled 886,264 votes, while his close challenger of African Alliance Congress counterpart, Biokpomabo Awara, garnered 173,859 votes.
Mr Awara was backed by the All Progressive Congress (APC) who had no candidate for the election.
The Returning Officer for the election, Teddy Adias, made the declaration at the head office of INEC in Port Harcourt.
Mr Adias said that 249,324 votes did not count in areas where election did not hold or was cancelled due to disruptions.
“I, this day, confirm again, that I am the collation officer for the election and that Nyesom Wike of the PDP, having satisfied the requirements of the law, has scored the highest number of votes and is hereby declared winner and returned elected,” the electoral chief said.
“The winner, with the highest votes, scored 886,264 and the second scored 173,859. The margin of lead with these votes stands at 712,405. A total number of registered voters in area where the election did not hold or cancelled stands at 249,324,” Adias added.