NEC Declares CDC-backed Independent Candidate Cllr. Jallah Winner of Lofa By-election

Politics

NEC Declares CDC-backed Independent Candidate Cllr. Jallah Winner of Lofa By-election

IPNEWS-Monrovia: The National Elections Commission (NEC) has declared Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC)-backed independent candidate, Cllr. Joseph Jallah as winner of the Lofa County by-elections.

The by-election which took place on Tuesday, June 28, 2022 saw six candidates vying for the Lofa County senatorial seat following former Defense Minister Brownie Samukai being denied to take his seat he won in the December 2020 midterm elections.

With 790 votes difference, NEC Chairman Davidetta Brown Lansana on Friday, July 1, 2022 declared Cllr. Jallah winner of Lofa By-election; defeating opposition Unity Party candidate Galakpai Kortimai. Cllr. Jallah won the senate seat in his fourth attempt to contest the senatorial seat in Lofa County.

“Mr. Joseph Jallah, having scored the highest number of votes is hereby declared the winner of the Lofa County by-election,” NEC Chairman Davidetta Browne Lansana announced at the Commission’s headquarters in Monrovia.

UP candidate Galakpai Kortimai

According to the NEC results, Cllr. Jallah accumulated 22,019 votes to defeat his closest rival, Galakpai Kortimai of the Unity Party with 21,229 votes in the election which passed off peacefully.

That means, Jallah won by just 790 votes in Tuesday’s poll that contested by four other candidates.

NEC said the final results announced was for the entire 454 polling places in Lofa County.

Jallah was backed by the ruling CDC party, which has shied away from fielding a candidate in the stronghold of former Vice President Joseph Boakai, who is Standard Bearer of the Unity Party.

Earlier in the week, NEC released the provisional results and said it represented 83.92% out of 100% tally, but did not state specific areas the results originated from.

In that results, it said Cllr. Joseph Jallah (Indep) got 20,482 votes constituting 40.61%, while Galakpai Kortimai (UP) 16,666 votes, amounting to 33.0%.

Even before NEC could announce the final results, two of the six candidates had conceded defeat and congratulated the now declared winner. They include Momo Cyrus and Mariamu Beyan Fofana, both independent candidates.

Mr. Cyrus while conceding defeat said that he was not dropping his ambition to enter the Senate, vowing to return to the race in the g 2023 election, when half of the 30-member Senate seats will be up for grabs.

Meanwhile, IPNEWS correspondent who monitored the exercise across the county reported that in Voinjama, the county capital, residents trooped to the streets to celebrate the victory.

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