Kayode Fayemi and Olusola Eleka
The national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party has said that it has what it called “facts” on how the last Saturday’s governorship election was allegedly rigged in Ekiti State.
It said members of its National Working Committee met in Abuja on Tuesday, where they received and reviewed “all facts relating to the July 14, 2018 Ekiti state governorship election.”
It added that after the NWC members reviewed what was brought before them, they came into a conclusion that the Independent National Electoral Commission allegedly rigged the election in favour of the rival All Progressives Congress.
It will be recalled that the commission on Sunday morning, declared the APC candidate, Dr Kayode Fayemi, as the winner of the election.
However, the candidate of the PDP, Prof Kolapo Olusola and the former ruling party insisted that the votes were doctored in favour of Fayemi.
The National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday, also accused the commission of pulling down the results of the election from its website.
He said, “After a thorough examination of all hard facts, the NWC reconfirms that the Independent National Electoral Commission doctored the result of the election to favour the APC.
“The NWC notes that apart from the huge discrepancies between the actual votes cast at the polling centres and the results released by INEC, there is evidence that INEC pulled down the original result from its database to accommodate the alterations.
“The NWC also has evidence indicating that the original result was in favour of the PDP candidate, Prof. Kolapo Olusola before the figures were altered.
“The NWC, after very exhaustive examination of all facts, confirms the PDP candidate, Prof. Kolapo Olusola, clearly won the July 14, 2018 governorship election.”
He called on INEC to correct what he called the error in the results it announced, warning that if this was not done, the defeated party and its candidate would seek redress at an election petition tribunal.
“The NWC, therefore, calls on the leadership of INEC to immediately correct their results, apologise to the people of Ekiti State and be ready to admit their falsifications before the tribunal so as to return our mandate which was stolen at ‘gunpoint’ on July 14,”he added.
ADP rejects results of Ekiti governorship poll
Also, the Action Democratic Party rejected the outcome of the governorship election and demanded the nullification of the election on account of alleged glaring irregularities.
The National Chairman of the ADP, Mr Sani Yabagi, announced the party’s position in a statement he signed in Abuja, on Wednesday.
He said, “Regrettably, in spite of all the assurances that the processes would be free and fair, in conformity with globally accepted democratic standards, the election was anything far from this, as several issues which marred the election included ballot box snatching and, meddlesomeness by security agents.”
Go to election tribunal, APC dares PDP
In its reaction, the APC said it was prepared to meet the PDP at the election tribunal to defend the mandate freely given to it by Ekiti people.
The National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, said this in response to claims by the PDP that it had evidence to prove that it won the election.
Abdullahi said, “If they (PDP) have any evidence, they should just go ahead and take it to the tribunal.
“We are confident that the results of the election reflect the collective wishes of the Ekiti people. The PDP should show respect to the people and accept the result.
“It does appear that the PDP is driven by a sense of entitlement that is not compatible with democracy.”
INEC denies allegation
When contacted, the Director, Publicity and Voter Education, Mr Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, denied the allegations that INEC had altered the result posted on its website.
He also said he could not react to PDP’s claim that it had evidence of rigging.
Osaze-Uzzi said, “We did not change results posted on our website. You can go and check for yourself.”
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