Apc: We will stop Fayose

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has opened yet another chapter in the June 21 governorship election in the state in which the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Mr Ayodele Fayose, emerged winner.

Fayose polled 203,090 votes to defeat 17 other contenders. APC’s candidate, Dr Kayode Fayemi polled 120,433 votes and came second.

The APC, at the weekend, said its decision to approach the Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Ado Ekiti, was as a result of manipulation and the faulty process of the election.

With this, attention on the governorship of the state which had before now been on how the election would be conducted, held and why the results went in favour of the opposition PDP, would now shift to the tribunal which has less than 180 days to pass judgement in the suit.

The three-man tribunal headed by Justice Mohammed Siraj of Federal High Court, Jos Division, inaugurated last week had begun sitting on the petition.

APC State Interim Chairman, Chief Jide Awe, at the weekend, gave details of allegations contained in the petition to include undue militarisation of the election by the Chief of Army Staff, Major General Kenneth Minimah, and the Police Inspector General, Alhaji Muhammed Abubakar; impeachment of the governor- elect during his first term in office in the state, as well as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) cases hanging on his head were also listed.

Awe averred that one of the reasons the party is asking the tribunal to invalidate the election is that Fayose was not qualified to partake in the election.

The APC chairman who said the poll was more of “a mechanical exercise than conventional casting of votes,” added that, “the results of the election were embarrassing to us as a party and we hold the view that there is no smoke without fire.”

But the state governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, had earlier accepted defeat in the election, saying he was not desperate for power.

But Fayemi’s acceptance of defeat was overruled by the party as Awe clarified, saying, “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 contained on the ballot papers was name of the party and its logo, so the issue is beyond the governor,” he declared.

The APC boss said: “Let it be known to you that our candidate, Dr Fayemi only conceded defeat to guarantee continued peace that was prevalent in the state at the time as well as allow the siege lain on the state by the military to cease. You can see that as soon as he announced that he had accepted defeat, the soldiers immediately vacated the state.”

However, the PDP was quick to deride the APC for the decision to approach the tribunal, describing it as mere academic exercise meant to keep APC members busy between now and the 2015 general election. P

DP State Chairman, Mr Makanjuola Ogundipe, who described the APC challenge as an exercise in futility, said, “The APC is going there to chase shadows.”

However, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said the decision of the APC to approach the tribunal to seek redress rather than crucifying the electoral body on the pages of the newspapers was a welcome development.

INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Ekiti State, Alhaji Halilu Pai, who said the action taken by the APC was in line with the dictates of the Electoral Act 2010, as amended, added, “Any aggrieved party or candidate who wishes to challenge the outcome is equally free to do so within the ambit of the same enabling instrument.”