Fayemi defeated current Deputy Governor of the state and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Kolapo Olusola, and over 30 others in a keenly contested election.
He was victorious in 11 out of the 16 local government areas of the state, polling 197,459 votes, and edging out his closest rival Olusola who got 178,121 votes.
Based on the votes secured, INEC’s Chief Returning Officer for the election, Professor Idowu Olayinka, declared Fayemi the winner.
Saturday’s election was highly anticipated as it pitted both the APC and Fayemi against one of their biggest critics and a key member of the opposition.
The buildup to the election was filled with drama and heightened expectations but led to fears of violence, with more than 30,000 policemen eventually deployed to provide security.
It, however, started rather smoothly with electoral materials and officials getting to polling units visited by our correspondents on schedule.
In Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, there was a large turnout of voters and more than 60,000 people eventually voted there, the largest votes cast in a local government during the election.
Apart from reports now and then of card reader malfunction, one of the first issues to pop up was the allegations of cash inducements by observers and party agents.
A few hours into the start of the election, the police arrested some persons for allegedly distributing cash to voters.
Channels reports that the victory puts Mr Fayemi on course for a second term as governor of the state, an ambition he failed to achieve in 2014 when he was defeated by Governor Ayodele Fayose.
Fayemi had gone on to head the Policy, Research and Strategy Directorate of the APC’s Presidential Campaign for the 2015 election before becoming Minister of Mines and Steel Development.
Fayose, whose administration repeatedly accused Fayemi’s administration, was keen to ensure that his deputy succeeds him and that Ekiti remains under the leadership of the PDP.
When he came out to vote, the governor repeated his calls to supporters of the PDP to vote and protect their votes.
Although it was a close contest, Fayemi and the APC prevailed.
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