The All Progressive Congress (APC) and the camp of Biodun Oyebanji, the winner of the Ekiti governorship election, have dared the former governor Segun Oni, the Social Democratic Party Candidate (SDP) and the runner-up, to challenge the outcome of the just concluded governorship election in the State.
This was made known by the Director-General of the Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji (BAO) campaign organization, Cyril Fasuyi, while appearing on the Channels Television programme, Sunday Politics, on Sunday evening.
Fasuyi said that it is usual for Engineer Segun Oni and his team to always reject election results, thinking that if it is not him, then it is nobody.
What BAO campaign organization is saying
“It is usual for Engineer Segun Oni and his team,” he said of the reaction from Oni who was the candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the election.
“When you see a man that has a habitual way of thinking that if it is not him, then it is nobody; then you won’t be shocked that a party that was defeated with over 100,000 votes … comes to say it rejects the result, it is amazing.
“There is nothing wrong, he is free to go anywhere. In court, there is this usual parlance that he who alleges must prove; so, we are waiting, they should bring out all the proofs they have against us.”
While reacting to allegations that the APC hired hoodlums for vote-buying and ballot box snatching, Fasuyi said, “I was the director-general of BAO campaign organisation; I have knowledge of everything that was done and there was nothing (to suggest vote-buying) in the entire budget of BAO campaign organisation.
“There was only one budget to which I was a party and there was no line called vote-buying. I was a principal actor from the beginning to the end.”
PDP candidate accepts results, congratulates Oyebanji
The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Ekiti governorship election, Bisi Kolawole, has accepted the outcome of the election and congratulated the APC candidate, Oyebanji, on his victory at the polls
Kolawole, in a letter to the governor-elect, titled, ‘Congratulation on your victory’, said, “I hereby write to congratulate you. I believe that power belongs to God and He bestows it upon whomever he chooses. I also believe in popular choice ie the unfettered expression of the people’s mandate as one of the crucial hallmarks of democratic principle and practice.’’
What you should know
- Recall that in the early hours of Sunday, INEC declared the candidate of APC, Biodun Oyebanji, as the winner of the governorship election in Ekiti state.
- Oyebanji polled 187,057 votes – over 100,000 votes more than that of his closest rival, Oni who scored 82,211 votes in the election. Mr Bisi Kolawole of PDP came third in the poll with 67,457 votes.
- Subsequently, Oni who was governor between 2007 and 2010, through his media aide, Moses Jolayemi, rejected the outcome of the election, citing electoral malpractices, massive vote buying, ballot box snatching, allegedly by the ruling party.
