Fayemi wins Ekiti governorship poll; PDP rejects reults; Buhari congratulates winner; I will restore Ekiti’s values, Fayemi assures
By Idowu Ariwodola/ Ismaila Chafe/ Idowu Gabriel
Dr Kayode Fayemi, a former Minister of Mines and Steel Development and candidate of the All Progressives Congress(APC) has won Saturday’s governorship election in Ekiti.
Prof. Idowu Olayinka, the Chief Returning Officer for the election and Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, said Fayemi polled 197,459 votes to emerge winner.
The News Agency of Nigeria, (NAN) reports that Olayinka made the declaration at the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Ado-Ekiti on Sunday.
NAN also reports that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Prof. Kolapo Olusola, came second with 178,121 votes.
The PDP has, however, rejected the results, saying that the election was marred by irregularities and attacks of its members and supporters.
The party’s agent at the collation centre, Mr Sunday Olowolafe, urged the commission to stay action on the declaration of a winner until a re-run was conducted where there were established cases of violence, vote-buying and ballot-snatching.
Other results declared by Olayinka were Accord, 250; Action Alliance, 41; ACD, 1149; AD, 216; ADB, 1082; ADA, 107; AGAO, 31; ANRP, 125; APA, 1199; and APDA, 464.
Also declared were APGA, 70; ANPP, 14; DA, 14; DPC, 147; DPP,181; FJP, 42; GPN, 20; I.D, 31;, KOWA, 23; LP, 280; MMN, 35; MPN, 23; NDLP, 44; NPC, 353 PANDEL, 74; and PGC, 1242.
The rest are DPA, 632; PPN, 107; SDO, 367; UDP, 29; UPN, 33; YDP, 31 and YPP, 49.
Olayinka said the total valid votes in the election was 384,594 while total votes cast was 403,451, with 18,857 votes invalidated.
Fayemi is expected to take over from the incumbent, Mr Ayo Fayose, on Oct. 16, 2018.
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has congratulated Dr Kayode Fayemi of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on his victory in Saturday’s governorship election in Ekiti state.
The president, in a message by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, in Abuja on Sunday, commended the governor-elect and all APC supporters “for the hard-fought victory after a dignified campaign”.
He urged Fayemi and party members to be magnanimous in victory as “the incoming administration prepares to unfold a new lease of life for the people of Ekiti State through purposeful and responsible governance”.
Buhari commended the people of Ekiti for their matured and peaceful conduct as they made their choice using the power of the ballot.
He also lauded INEC for adequate preparations and for displaying impartiality throughout the process.
He commended the security agencies for creating the right atmosphere for the relatively peaceful conduct of the polls and urged them to sustain the peace.
He also commended local and international observers and monitors for their vigilance and contributions towards the relatively hitch-free exercise.
The president urged the losers to be gallant in conceding defeat and use constitutional means to settle whatever grievances they may have rather than resort to self-help.
He appealed to all stakeholders in Ekiti to work towards a successful transition to a new administration “in the higher interest of not only the State but the entire nation and its fledgling democratic experience”.
“In all this, the people of Ekiti State have spoken loud and clear, and democracy has won again,” the president noted.
Governor-elect, Dr. Fayemi, has described his victory in Saturday’s governorship election as one “for reclaiming the land and restoring Ekiti values.”
Fayemi spoke on Sunday while addressing newsmen in Isan-Ekiti shortly after he was declared the winner of the governorship election.
He said: “The victory of this election, I believe, is for reclaiming the land and restoring the values of our people.
“Our values in Ekiti are respect for our leaders, commitment to our people, non brigandage, non criminality and so on.
” This victory is a victory for all, it is not a victory for only Gov. Kayode Fayemi, it is a victory for all the Ekiti people.’’
Fayemi also described his victory as significant to the future of democracy in Nigeria.
“This was just not an Ekiti election, I want people to understand that this election has a lot of significance to the future of democracy in Nigeria.
” The fact that we have witnessed a free, fair and transparent election process has huge importance for similar exercises like Osun State next door to us and eventually the national elections in February 2019,” he said.
He thanked all the APC leaders, including President Buhari, National Leader of the APC, Sen. Bola Tinubu, former governor of Ogun, Chief Segun Osoba, former interim Chairman of the party, Chief Bisi Akande, as well as party leaders in the state.
He also thanked his family members, especially his wife, Bisi, for their support during the election campaign.
