The Independent National Electoral Commission has declared Salihu Mustapha of the All Progressive Congress the winner of the Kwara Central Senatorial District election.

Mr Mustapha secured 109,823 votes to defeat the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr Bolaji Abdullahi.

Mr Abdullahi, who is a former minister of sports, got 69,202 votes.

The APC candidate was announced as the winner by the Returning Officer, Professor Salih Abubakar.

“That Mustapha Salihu of APC, having satisfied the requirement of the law, is hereby declared the winner,” Professor Abubakar declared to cheers from APC supporters.

Mr Mustapha, 50, has been in the All Progressives Congress since 2013. Prior to that, he was the national deputy chairman of the Congress for Progressive Change, one of the political parties that merged to form the APC.