The national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party has rejected Saturday’s governorship election results in Ekiti State.
It described the results announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission as a daylight robbery.
But the Presidency, in its reaction berated the Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, describing him as “a high-powered nothing.”
Fayose had, during the electioneering, supported his deputy, Prof. Kolapo Olusola, who is the candidate of the PDP in the election.
INEC had early on Sunday announced the All Progressives Congress’ candidate, Dr. Kayode Fayemi as the winner of the election.
The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan and Returning Officer for the election, Prof. Idowu Olayinka, who announced the results, said Fayemi had satisfied the requirement of the law by polling the highest lawful votes in the election.
Fayemi polled 197, 459 to beat Olusola of the PDP, who scored 178,121 votes. He won in 12 Local Government Areas while Olusola won in four local governments.
Fayemi won in Ilejemeje, Irepodun/Ifelodun, Ido/Osi, Oye, Moba, Ijero, Gbonyin, Ekiti West, Ikole, Ise/Orun, Ekiti East and Ekiti South-West. Olusola won in Ado, Ikere, Emure and Efon.
PDP to set up committee to investigate outcome
Commenting on Fayemi’s victory, the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, at a press briefing in Abuja on Sunday, alleged that the APC and INEC colluded to deny Kolapo victory.
He said that the party would set up a committee to collate the votes it garnered in the election and also look at the robbery which he said the party suffered.
Ologbondiyan said that the reports from the PDP agents did not tally with the ones announced by the electoral commission.
“The PDP rejects the outcome and the results announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission of Saturday’s governorship election in Ekiti State. It is a daylight robbery and it cannot stand,” he said.
Ologbondiyan insisted that the outcome of the election was predetermined, adding that the trio of the APC, security agencies and the commission colluded to deny the PDP victory in the election.
He said, “As I said, the PDP rejects in its entirety the results concocted by the APC, INEC and security agencies, in the governorship election in Ekiti State and declared by INEC.
“The party rejects the falsified results and declaration of the APC candidate, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, to be the winner of the election, as a daylight robbery, a brazen subversion of the will of the people and direct assault on our democracy.
“From the authentic results flowing directly from the polling centres across the state, it is clear that the PDP candidate, Prof. Kolapo Olusola-Eleka, incontrovertibly won the election, with very comfortable margin over the APC candidate, only for INEC to allow the alteration of results at the collation centres.
“Painfully, the people of Ekiti State were pillaged, openly brutalised, confronted with the worst form of cruelty and intimidation from security agencies, and their mandate, which they freely gave to the PDP, was snatched at ‘gun point’ by enemies of democracy, who are parading themselves as icons of anti-corruption.
“Nigerians are witnesses to all manipulations by the APC, aided by security agencies and compromised INEC officials, to rig the election, particularly, the audacious alteration and substitution of election results in favour of the APC at the collation centres amidst the brutalisation of our agents.”
Ologbondiyan said that his party had the details of the outcome of the election and polling units where it won, alleging the party won with a wide margin in those units.
The spokesman for the former ruling party alleged that security agencies sent agents of the PDP away at collation centres before the manipulation of figures was carried out.
He also said that the PDP was in possession of the discrepancies between the authentic results which it said was being studied by the party and those released by the commission.
Ologbondiyan also alleged that fake voters were brought in from Kogi, Lagos, Ondo, Oyo and Ogun states and that card readers from the affected states were imported into Ekiti to enable them (the fake voters) to vote.
He said the APC was desperate as a result of its determination to win the election at all costs as promised by some of its officials.
He said,”This bare-faced subversion of the will of the people is a clear recipe for crisis and we invite Nigerians and the international community to hold President Buhari, the APC, the INEC chairman and heads of security agencies in Nigeria responsible should there be any breakdown of law and order in Ekiti State as a result of this election.
“Finally, let it be known to all that, surely, this electoral banditry will not stand. The PDP is already collating all the infractions in this election and within the possible timeframe, we shall make our next step to reclaim our stolen mandate public.”
Fayemi holds victory rally, asks Fayose, Olusola to accept results
But Fayemi on Sunday held a victory rally with a call on Fayose and Olusola to accept the results of the election.
He also said with his victory in the election, Ekiti had been liberated from slavery.
He promised to be a governor to all Ekiti people, irrespective of party affiliation, religion and creed.
The victory rally to the APC state secretariat on Ajilosun-Ikere Road caused gridlock with well-wishers, party members and supporters hailing him.
Addressing journalists at the party secretariat, Fayemi said, “Let them behave the way we behaved in 2014; we should all know that in an election of this nature, you can only have one governor at a time.
“We conceded in 2014 and our counterparts on the other side should accept defeat for peace to reign in Ekiti State and they should refrain from violence for Ekiti to enjoy peace.”
Fayemi promised to work with the outgoing government to offset pensions and arrears of workers.
The governor-elect promised to set up a transition committee very soon to liaise with the outgoing government for smooth transfer of power on October 16.
Fayemi said, “We will proactively explore all avenues within the limits of the law, especially through the Transition Committee to be set up very soon, to ensure the outgoing administration prioritise the payment of the backlog of salaries to all categories of workers and pensioners.”
Fayemi urged all political parties and co-contestants to support him in the development of Ekiti.
Addressing party faithful who received him, Fayemi said God had liberated Ekiti from slavery and restored peace to the state.
He praised security agencies, election observers, INEC, international community, labour, media, traditional institutions and the international community for contributing to the success of the poll.
I’ll challenge results in court, says Olusola
However, the PDP candidate, Olusola, has rejected the results. He said he won the election overwhelmingly, claiming that he received more than 70 per cent of lawful votes in almost all the 16 local government areas of the state.
He vowed to challenge the results in court in order to reclaim his mandate. Olusola alleged that security agencies aided and abetted the APC to intimidate, oppress and induce voters in order to manipulate the poll for Fayemi.
He said, “You are all aware of the unfortunate and dangerous events of the past 24 hours, in which our governorship election was hijacked by political desperadoes leveraging on ‘federal might’ to pervert the electoral process, subvert the will of Ekiti people, and viciously steal the mandate willingly and freely given to me on a massive scale by our people.
“I therefore reject the falsified results being bandied by the INEC, which purportedly gave the election to the APC and its candidate (Fayemi).
“This is the most audacious electoral robbery of our recent history. It shall not stand. By the grace of Almighty God and your support, I will pursue and regain my mandate.
“To rig this election, the APC leveraged on its well-advertised but patently obnoxious and anti-democratic ‘federal might’ to intimidate, harass, victimise, oppress, and brutalise PDP leaders, members, and the voting public all over Ekiti. This brutal and barbaric process, which started well before the election, did not spare Governor Ayodele Fayose and me; as the whole world had seen and had condemned it. It is quite unfortunate that the harassment has continued even after the election.”
He accused security agencies of not only supporting but also supervising the indiscriminate arrest of PDP leaders and agents while also harassing voters on a massive scale, especially in Ado Ekiti, Ikere and in the suburbs.
He also accused them of giving cover to the APC agents as they bought votes at polling stations and drove away PDP polling agents from collation centres among others.
“INEC on its own part reneged on its promise to have results counted, declared, and pasted on the wall of each polling station. There was nowhere INEC transmitted results from the polling centres as earlier promised. Ballot boxes were illegally moved to INEC offices while our agents were disallowed from following the process,” he said.
Presidency mocks Fayose, says he’s a high-powered nothing
But the Presidency descended heavily on Fayose, over the results of the governorship election, describing him as “a high-powered nothing.”
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said this in a statement titled “Fayose: In The End, A High-Powered Nothing,” made available to journalists.
He was reacting to the election which was won by the candidate of the ruling APC. Shehu said the people of the state, with the results, had spoken against Fayose who he said told them that the governorship election was a referendum on Buhari.
Shehu claimed that the governor told his people that Fayemi and Olusola were pawns and that he and Buhari were the actual contestants.
He said, “In what observers said was the most intense, and a most angry campaign, the people gave their verdict: Dr. Kayode Fayemi, the one-time governor, declared persona-non-grata is now persona-grata again.”
“President Buhari has won this referendum. The people of the state have sent a clear message. The politics of brinksmanship, assaults, insults, abuses and Robin Hoodism disguised as stomach infrastructure has been rejected in favour of politics of inclusion, development, responsibility and good governance.”
‘APC’s victory, a credit to Tinubu’
“Besides reinforcing the APC’s position as the only standing pole in the political landscape, it is a credit to the national leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, against whom all manner of ethnic and religious opposition is being mounted by former President Olusegun Obasanjo and some of the Asiwaju’s sworn enemies in the sub-region.”
Shehu said with the results, the political landscape of the South-West had been transformed.
He said the APC’s regional strength had been strengthened and Tinubu would be respected better.
Shehu said without losing patience and decorum, Tinubu had proved that rivals must reconcile and come to terms or lose everything.
He added, “This win is equally a huge boost to the APC and its new leadership under Chairman Adams Oshiomhole, who got their first baptism of fire in Ekiti. It is, importantly, a big boost to the second term ambition of President Muhammadu Buhari. For the People’s Democratic Party which came second in the election in a state that they held sway, it is a loss politically and psychologically.”
Fayose, a street-type-thug – Presidency
“As for Mr. Fayose and his morbid brand of politics, it is now his time to reconcile himself to the imminent political extinction he faces, his political career sealed for good. Newspapers have mistaken him for a gadfly who creates discomfort for the government at the centre to make it better, but Fayose is a street-type thug.
“He never fits the role of a gadfly because he thrives on bitter enmity. Opposition does not mean a negative view of everything. Neither does it translate into a licence to abuse your superiors.
“The winner of the election, Governor Fayemi’s trajectory from a persona-non-grata to a persona-grata again has given a wave of cheer to the APC members all over the country. It has given a fresh hope that fake news, lies and propaganda run only short distances, because they have short legs.
“An old proverb says you can’t beat something with nothing. After all the noise, theatricals and drama, Fayose’s fall came with a thud, not a bang: a high-powered nothing.”
I will laugh last, Fayose tells Presidency
But reacting, Fayose asked Buhari to bury his head in shame for using the police, army, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and INEC to snatch the mandate given to Olusola and deliver it to Fayemi “who Ekiti people rejected.”
Fayose, in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Idowu Adelusi, said Buhari had demonstrated truly that he was not a democrat, but a dictator and fascist per excellence.
“I am Peter Ayodele Fayose, I hold with my head high. I can never be suppressed. I don’t lose battles and I will not lose this. I will laugh last.
“The President should note what the Bible says which applies to him. ‘He that wears the armour should not boast as he that removes it.’
“It is only Buhari that will pride himself with the security shooting sporadically at polling centres, scaring people to pave the way for the APC thugs to snatch ballot boxes.”
Fayose said what Buhari had won as referendum from Ekiti people, Nigerians, and international community “is shame.”
He added, “If APC has truly won, why is it that there is no jubilation in Ekiti?. The victory of Kayode Fayemi is pyrrhic. We will reclaim the stolen mandate in the court by the power of God.”
Grow economy, Saraki urges Fayemi
On his part, President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, congratulated Fayemi but urged him to use his second-coming as governor to continue with the people-centred policies and programmes of his first term.
He also urged the governor-elect to work towards growing the state’s economy in order to leave behind a sustainable legacy.
Saraki said this on his social media platforms and in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Yusuph Olaniyonu.
On his Facebook page, Saraki urged the governor-elect to use his tenure to bring more development to the state.
In the statement, the Senate President said the victory was a sign that the people of Ekiti still had confidence in the former minister of mines and steel development in his ability to provide good governance and render efficient service to the state and its people.
Fayemi ran effective campaign – APC
The APC also congratulated Fayemi, noting that the former minister ran an effective and positive campaign that focused on his agenda of rebuilding the economy of the state.
This was contained in a statement signed by the APC National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, in Abuja, on Sunday.
Bolaji said the APC remained the party best suited to move not only Ekiti State, but the whole of Nigeria forward.
Fayemi, a conqueror – APC Reps
On its part, the APC Caucus at the House of Representatives, also congratulated Fayemi. The caucus, in a message signed its Leader, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, described Fayemi as a conqueror.
The statement read, “The APC Caucus of the House of Representatives congratulates Dr. John Kayode Fayemi on his well-deserved election and landslide victory (12 out of 16 local governments).
“You came you saw and you conquered. We also use this opportunity to thank the good people of Ekiti State for standing strong behind our party and candidate. As the saying goes, once beaten, twice shy.”
The All Progressives Grand Alliance in a press statement by its National Chairman, Ozonkpu Dr. Victor Oye, expressed satisfaction with the smooth conduct of the election. It attributed it to the determination of Buhari’s administration to bequeath to the nation a legacy of free and fair elections.
Ekiti election, mockery of democracy – Afenifere
Commenting on the election, the Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, described the poll as a travesty and mockery of democracy.
It described as unfortunate, the buying of votes by the two leading parties in the poll, the APC and the PDP.
The association spokesman, Yinka Odumakin, stated that the politicians capitalised on the poverty of the electorate to induce them with money to do their bidding.
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