The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Gov. Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State as the winner of Saturday’s governorship election in the state.

The INEC Returning Officer, Prof. Maimuna Waziri, the Vice-Chancellor of Federal University, Gashua, Yobe declared the result in Gombe on Sunday,

Waziri said that Yahaya of the All Progressives Congress (APC) scored 342, 821 votes to defeat his closest rival Mr Jibrin Barde of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who polled 233, 131 votes.

She said that Khamisu Mailantarki of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) polled 19,861 votes while Keftin Amuga of Labour Party polled 1,753.

Waziri said that the number of registered voters was 1,575,794, while 618,231 voters were accredited adding that the number of valid votes was 605,355, while 11,390 votes were rejected and 616,745 total votes cast.

Yahaya won in nine out of the 11 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the state, while the difference between APC and PDP scores was 109,690 votes.