JUST IN: INEC presents certificate of return to Ondo governor Aiyedatiwa and his deputy (Photos)
INEC presents certificate of return to Ondo governor Aiyedatiwa and his deputy (Photos)
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has presented a certificate of return to Lucky Aiyedatiwa, governor-elect of Ondo state and his deputy Olayide Adelami.
The certificate was presented on Wednesday by Kunle Ajayi, INEC supervising national commissioner for Ondo, and Toyin Babalola, Ondo resident electoral commissioner (REC) at the INEC headquarters in Abuja.
The event was attended by the National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, and some members of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC).
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In his remarks, Aiyedatiwa, accompanied by the Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, thanked the people of Ondo State for exercising their franchise and renewing his mandate.
“The mandate you have just renewed via your huge votes across the 18 LGAs where we won convincingly has placed a burden on me to serve you better than I did before now,” he stated.
He also thanked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, whom he said provided a level playing field for all parties.
While he thanked other stakeholders for their commitment to the electoral process, Aiyedatiwa praised INEC for “conducting a free, fair, transparent, credible, and inclusive election.”
Aiyedatiwa, the incumbent governor of Ondo state and candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), won the election in all 18 LGAs with 366,781 votes to defeat his closest rival, Agboola Ajayi of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who polled 117,845 votes.
Nejo Adeyemi, candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), came a distant third with 4,138 votes.
Despite the landslide victory, Agboola has decided to head to the election petition tribunal to challenge the victory.
Ajayi, in a statement by his Special Adviser, Ayo Fadaka, said that he kept silent since poll results were announced to enable him investigate ‘contents of criminality perpetrated by both the victorious All Progressives Congress, APC, and the INEC.
He said: “We have uncovered lots of actions undertaken to compromise the electoral desires of the people and sadly conclude that democracy cannot thrive in an environment where unabated criminality is perpetually perpetrated in the prosecution of an election by the agency(INEC) saddled with the onerous and sacred responsibility to protect our franchise and deliver its mandate at the end of every election.
“November 16th election, like every other election conducted by INEC since APC assumed power in 2015 continues in the tradition of hijacking the process and delivering results that are diametrically in contrast with expressed electoral desires, thus resulting in promoting voters’ apathy and total disenchantment with the electoral process.
“While not divulging the nature and extent of the results of our investigations for now, our only prayer is that those who possess the privileges to determine the fate of people and nation should begin to live up to expectations and fear God in the interest of our nation, its wellness, peace and tranquility, else they be reduced to same level of criminals and bandits, who continuously lay landmines that undermine the progress of our nation
