ADO EKITI—OVER three weeks after conceding victory to Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP, in the Ekiti Governorship election of June 21, in
the state, the All Progressive Congress, APC, has made a U-turn and
decided to challenge the result of the election at the election petition
tribunal sitting in Ado Ekiti,the state capital.
Ayodele-FayoseThe Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC,
has declared the candidate of the PDP, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, winner of the
election, having polled majority of votes in all the 16 local
government areas of the state to defeat the incumbent governor, Dr.
Kayode Fayemi of APC and the Labour Party, LP, candidate, Hon. Opeyemi
Bamidele.
Though details of the contents of APC petition at the tribunal were
sketchy at the time this report, the interim chairman of the party in
the state, Chief Jide Awe said he personally submitted the petition at
the secretariat of the tribunal on behalf of the party on Saturday,
since according to him, the law allowed the tribunal to operate on
weekends.
Awe said the party had sought the assistance of the tribunal to
“unravel the hidden facts surrounding the election,” contending that the
election was more of “a mechanical exercise than conventional casting
of votes.”
The grouse on which the party is contesting at the tribunal,
according to him, included alleged manipulation of the election in
favour of the PDP candidate, undue militarisation, impeachment of Mr
Fayose in 2006, as well as EFCC’s cases hanging on the governor-elect.
Awe claimed that Fayose was not qualified in the first place to
participate in the election exercise, “aside from the process of the
poll’s conduct, which was faulty.”
According to him, the party did not want to take laws into its hands
or resort to self-helps, hence its decision to follow constitutional
and peaceful line of seeking redress in the court, claiming “The results
of the election were embarrassing to us as a party and we hold the view
that there is no smoke without fire.”
Awe explained that the decision of the party to challenge the
conduct of the election at the tribunal was not at variance with the
earlier position of the Governor Fayemi, who had accepted defeat and
congratulated Mr Fayose.
He said “The governor does not own the party. It is the party that
owns the governor, and so the party can decide for him. You will observe
that there is no name of Dr Kayode Fayemi on the ballot papers, what
was on it was the name of the party and its logo. So, the issue is
beyond the governor. Let it be known to you that our candidate, Dr
Fayemi only conceded victory to guarantee continued peace that was
prevalent in the state at the time as well as allow the siege laid on
the state by the military to end. You can see that as soon as he
announced that he had accepted defeat, the soldiers immediately vacated
the state.”
Meanwhile, the Governor-Elect, Mr Ayo Fayose, has said APC’s members
are jittery over the PDP’s victory in the state, saying he will
continue to work with other members of the party in the South West geo
political zone.
Speaking through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Idowu Adelusi, in a
statement weekend while reacting to a statement credited to the Oyo
State chapter of the APC, warning Fayose to stay away from the state,
said “The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria guarantees
freedom of association and movement among many freedoms enshrined in it.
It is in exercise of the freedom that people came together to form the
PDP and which people also freely joined.
”Fayose and others are members of the PDP, I don’t know how that has
injured the APC. Also, it is in the exercise of the freedom of movement
that PDP members and leaders converged in Ibadan, to hold a
sensitisation rally and necessary, legally-mandated security agencies
performed their duties that led to the success of the event.”
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