Fayose alleges INEC, Police compromised in Osun governorship election
[File] Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose
Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose on Friday alleged that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Police and other security agencies were compromised in favour of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) at the recently-concluded Osun state governorship election.
Fayose, a member of the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) said the result of the election was a repeat of Ekiti state governorship election won by the APC which he described as a “stolen mandate” by the ruling party.
Candidate of the APC Gboyega Oyetola was declared the winner of the election by INEC after polling 255,505 votes compared to 255, 023 votes of the candidate of the opposition PDP Ademola Adeleke.
“It was obvious even to the blind that the Osun election, as was the case with Ekiti, was a contest between the PDP and the security agencies supervised by a compromised INEC,” Fayose said in a tweet.
“Therefore, we want to believe that conscionable Nigerians and the survival of this country as a whole are at the mercy of God and of the judiciary. And if the judiciary fails to rise up to the occasion, Nigerians will be among men the most miserable.”
Although, Adeleke polled the highest votes in the election held on Saturday 22 September with 254, 698, with APC’s Oyetola polling 254, 345, but was declared inconclusive by INEC due to the 353 margin being lesser than 2,637 cancelled in seven polling units.
The supplementary (rerun) election was thereafter held in seven polling units on Thursday, September 27, with Oyetola declared as the winner of the election. But, Fayose disagrees.
“The Osun supplementary election was just a repeat of what happened in Ekiti state on July 14 and it is unfortunate that, again, the will of the people has been perverted,”
“With the show of shame that happened in last Saturday’s Osun state governorship election in general and the Thursday rerun in particular, there is no other conclusion to draw than that democracy is now dead in our beloved country.”
On the other hand, Nigeria’s president Muhammadu Buhari has urged all parties unsatisfied with the result of the election to seek legal redress.
