Gbenga Oyetola
The Independent National Electoral Commission declared the
candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Gboyega Oyetola, as the
Governor-elect of Osun State, Punch Metro reports.
The rerun of the Osun State governorship election was held in seven
polling units across four council areas on Thursday with the candidate
of the All Progressives Congress, Gboyega Oyetola, beating the Peoples
Democratic Party candidate, Ademola Adeleke.
The returning officer, Prof. Joseph Fuwape, declared that the APC
candidate, Oyetola, won the governorship election by scoring a total
number of 255,505 votes while Adeleke of the PDP polled 255,023 votes.
This was, however, met with protests by Adeleke, the PDP, and the Coalition of United Political Parties, among others.
Adeleke had won the main election on Saturday with 353 votes after
polling 254,698 against Oyetola’s 254,345. On Thursday, both candidates
relied on 2,637 votes in the seven units where the Independent National
Electoral Commission had declared rerun to win the final contest.
The rerun was held in one polling unit in Oyere in Ife-North, one
polling unit in Olode in Ife-South, another polling unit in Osi,
Ife-South, three polling units in Orolu, Kajola Local Government Area of
the state and one polling unit in Osogbo.
In Oyere, APC had 126 votes while PDP had two votes. In Olode, APC
scored 283 votes with the PDP scoring 15 votes. In Osi, APC had 172
votes while the PDP had 21 votes. In Ifon, Orolu, APC had 111 votes
against PDP’s three votes. In Gbogbo, Orolu, APC had 41 while PDP scored
64 votes. Also in Idiya, Orolu, the APC scored 128 votes against the
PDP’s 55 votes.
In Osogbo, the APC scored 299 votes while the PDP scored 165 votes.
In all, APC scored 1,160 to beat the PDP which scored 325 in the rerun.
When added to the result of the main election on Saturday, APC had a
total of 255, 505 votes against PDP’s 255,023.
In the run-up to the rerun of the election, the PDP alleged that
INEC shortchanged its candidate in some of the council areas by
announcing figures that were lower than what Adeleke actually scored.
It claimed that the actual margin of the win against Oyetola in the
first election was 4,740 and not 353. The party said that INEC added
2,000 votes to what the APC polled in Osogbo and 1,387 to what it scored
in Olorunda. The party also alleged that 1,000 votes were deducted from
what Adeleke scored in the Ayedaade council area.
The candidate of the Social Democratic Party, Iyiola Omisore, who
came a distant third in the Saturday’s election, however, became an
important element in the Thursday’s rerun because some of the polling
units fell under the area of his strength. He was visited by a high
powered Federal Government delegation which included the APC chairman,
Adams Oshiomhole; Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun; his Oyo State
counterpart, Abiola Ajimobi; Ekiti State Governor-elect, Kayode
Fayemi; and Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed.
Although he also met some leaders of the PDP, which included the
party’s presidential aspirants, Bukola Saraki, and Atiku Abubakar,
Omisore caved in under the FG pressure as he announced that he would
support the APC in the rerun.
In areas where the rerun was held in Ife-South and Ife-North, PDP
supporters alleged that they were barred by thugs from reaching the
polling units to cast their votes for Adeleke. They also alleged that
police watched as they were beaten by the thugs, adding that the result
of the election did not reflect the wish of the electorate.
In Olode, the PDP agent was absent at the polling unit. One of our
correspondents who were at the polling unit witnessed the beating of two
people who claimed that they had come to vote. Although there was a
heavy presence of armed security men at the unit, the hoodlums acted
without hurdle. It was also observed that voters were hugely induced to
vote at the polling unit.