The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared incumbent Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) the winner of Saturday’s Governorship election held in Enugu State.

INEC’s State Returning Officer, Prof. Joseph Ahaneku, who announced the result in Enugu on Sunday evening, said that Ugwuanyi won in each of the 17 local government areas (LGAs) of the state.

Ahaneku said that Ugwuanyi polled a total of 449,935 votes against his distant rival, Sen. Ayogu Eze of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who polled a total of 10,423 votes.

The two major contenders were followed far behind by the governorship candidates of All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), Mr Emmanuel Nwankpa, and United Peoples Party (UPP), Mr Ekene Uzodinma, with 2,547 and 1,476 respectively.

Ahaneku, who is the Vice Chancellor, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, said that the results were carefully collated.

He said that the state had 1,944,016 registered voters, adding that 478,241 voters were accredited for the governorship election.

He noted that there were 470,927 valid votes, while 7,314 votes were declared invalid.

He thanked the people “for being patient and sacrificing to see that we are diligent and meticulous in the entire exercise.”