The Peoples Democratic Party has called for the cancellation of the result of the Ondo Governorship election won by Mr Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, saying it was ‘a charade’ and not the true reflection of the will of the people of Ondo State.
The political party in a statement by its spokesman, Deji Adeyeye, said that the election was blatantly manipulated from the beginning to the end to favour the All Progressives Congress (APC).
It claimed that the actions of INEC in collaboration with the APC-led Administration left the PDP no time to campaign and sell its candidate and party manifesto to the electorates in Ondo State.
The name of the candidate of the PDP in the election was added to the list of candidates 48 hours before the election, something a member if the party said deprived their candidate the chance to campaign or submit his agents names to the INEC.
Due to the short time before the election, the PDP had asked for a postponement of the election.
“Our persistent call for the postponement of the Election which was backed and supported by more than 20 other political parties were all rejected by INEC which were acting the script of the APC.
“It was a carefully planned and well-orchestrated strategy to rig the Election well in advance by preventing the PDP from planning and campaigning for the Election. The APC has hereby introduced a new formula of rigging Election in Nigeria,” the PDP claimed.
It further said that INEC had graduated from Inconclusive Elections as seen in Kogi, Bayelsa, Osun, FCT, Imo, Nassarawa and some other previous By-Elections in the Country to ‘Advanced Election Rigging’, as in the case of Edo and Ondo States Gubernatorial Elections.
“Charlatans In PDP”
The PDP also alleged that “agents of the APC openly bought votes of the electorates in the full glare of security operatives who did nothing to prevent such dastardly violation of the Electoral Law”.
“It is not surprising that the electorates in Ondo state became so vulnerable to the corruptive influence of the APC because of the hash economic situation in the Country inflicted on Nigerians by the APC Administration which have indeed made all Nigerians virtually beggars in their own Country.
“Nigerians will recall that we had persistently called for the postponement of the Election before Saturday, for at least two weeks to enable our Party Campaign and prepare properly for this Election as a result of the setback orchestrated by Justice Okon Abang and the charlatans in PDP who allowed themselves to be used by the APC to destroy our chances in the Ondo State Election,” the opposition party highlighted
The PDP further rejected the results of the November 26, governorship election, insisting that the election and all actions leading to it fell short of laid down principles guiding conduct of elections in Nigeria.
“We have instructed our Candidate and the Ondo State Chapter of our Party to proceed to the Tribunal to challenge the outcome of the election.
“We call on the Judiciary to redeem Nigeria’s image on this matter, as we request for the Total Cancellation of the Election in Ondo State,” the statement read.
It also congratulated its candidate, Mr Eyitayo Jegede, for his gallant performance at the Poll, despite what it referred to as ‘severe injuries’ inflicted on the party, before, during and after the Election.
The opposition party, however, advised its members and teeming supporters nationwide and Ondo State in particular to remain calm and continue to work with the leadership of the Party to move the PDP forward.
