The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has rejected the re-election of incumbent Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo State, describing the victory recorded by the All Progressives Congress candidate in Saturday’s governorship election as a sham.
Debo Ologunagba, National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, disclosed this in a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday.
Aiyedatiwa was declared the winner by the electoral umpire after winning the 18 local government areas in the state.
Declaring the result, the State Returning Officer, Prof Olayemi Akinwumi, said APC’s Ayedatiwa polled 366,781 votes to defeat Agboola Ajayi of the PDP, who got 117,845 votes.
However, Ologunagba alleged that the result was skewed by the electoral umpire in favour of the governor.
According to him, the poll was marred by vote-buying and intimidation from certain quarters, an act he said is capable of disrupting the country’s democracy if it goes unchecked.
He said: “The PDP and indeed all lovers of democracy in Nigeria and across the world have just witnessed the worst election conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission. The November 16 governorship election runs short of all expectations and requirements of a free, fair and credible election as it witnessed the height of electoral swindle, deceit and manipulation by the APC.
“This election witnessed widespread election merchandising, monetisation and barefaced vote buying by the APC and its apparatus in government to suppress the genuine aspiration of the people. This devious practice by the APC was rampant and pervasive because the APC have utterly impoverished Nigerians and turned poverty into a weapon of mass subjugation which enabled it to manipulate the election and its outcome.
“We call the attention of all Nigerians and the International Community to this reprehensible practice by the APC as widely witnessed in Ondo State and we demand that a serious action be taken to stem such if Nigeria’s democracy must survive. In the meantime, the National Working Committee of the PDP will be having a more detailed review of the election outcome and take appropriate action in the defence of our Democracy.”
