KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 17 — Umno secretary-general Datuk Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki said today that Barisan Nasional (BN) is leading in the Nenggiri state by-election by 1,570 votes in early count, as of around 4.45pm today.

Asyraf posted on Facebook that BN had won in the five polling districts that were closed early at 2pm due to small number of voters: Tohoi, Sungai Puian, Sungai Jenera, Kuala Sungai, and Sungai Wias.

"Praise be to God, BN won in three polling districts that closed early at 2pm today, two in the Orang Asli areas and one in the traditional Malay village area,” he said in a previous Facebook post.

He followed this up with a post that suggested that BN had won the seat, based on the preliminary count.

The Nenggiri state by-election today witnessed a straight fight between Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate Mohd Azmawi Fikri Abdul Ghani representing the Unity Government and PAS candidate Mohd Rizwadi Ismail representing the Perikatan Nasional (PN).

A total of 20,259 registered voters are eligible to vote in the by-election, with 20,216 being regular voters and 43 postal voters.

Mohd Azmawi Fikri was later declared the winner of the by-election, securing a majority of 3,352 votes over his rival and flipping the seat with a margin of victory over four times what PN managed in the state election last year.