How Ekiti poll was won and lost Victory, measure of govt’s acceptance – Lai

Hours after the candidate of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr.
Kayode Fayemi was declared winner of the just concluded governorship election in Ekiti state, indications have emerged on how the two major parties won and lost the poll.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, had announced Fayemi as winner of the poll with 197, 459 votes, to defeat his closest rival, Professor Kolapo Olusola Eleka of the Peoples Democratic Party who scored 178,121.
It was gathered that Ekiti contest was more of money competition than election, where both the PDP and the APC heavily induced the voters.
Apart from the open financial inducements, heavy presence of security officers also played a major role in the outcome of the election.
About 30,000 police officers and more than 19,000 Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) were deployed for the election.
Though the deployment was premised on the need for sanity during the exercise, it however came under serious scrutiny by a group of Nigerians, including the opposition PDP.
An observer who monitored the election said both the PDP and APC were seen openly buying votes, ranging from N7000, N5000 and N3000, depending on the area.
Evidence of vote-buying Just a day before the election, an international media (BBC Yoruba) had released a video where voters were seen running to an old governor’s office to collect between N3000 and N5000 respectively, allegedly sponsored by Governor Peter Fayose of the PDP.
I got N3000 too –AP candidate Corroborating the vote-buying allegation, the governorship candidate of the Accord Party, AbiodunAluko, said N3, 000 was paid into his account ahead of the poll by the PDP government.
He alleged APC leaders were paying N5000 per vote, the PDP leaders were paying N4, 000 apart from the N3000 they paid to the accounts of civil servants and pensioners.
Aluko, a pensioner, said: “What we are doing is not an election.
It is money competition.
The PDP started it by paying N3, 000 to accounts of civil servants and pensioners.
I am a pensioner and I received an alert of N3, 000 to vote for PDP.
“I called the pension office that is my pension now N3000? They told me that it was mobilisation to vote for PDP candidate and that we would meet on the field for the balance.
“The APC is openly distributing N5, 000 per vote while the PDP is distributing N4, 000 per vote.
All Okada unions have been given millions of naira to buy the votes of their members.
“On the surface, you will observe that there is no fighting, but the absence of violence does not mean that there is peace.
Security agents turned blind eyes to the distribution of money which was done openly.
“This is so because there is so much poverty in the land and many believe that today is the only day they can get something from the government that has not done anything for them.” APC Governors’ presence Another source who pleaded anonymity, said quite a sizeable number of APC governors, had relocated to Ekiti state, with each of them taking charge of the logistic needs of a local government area through party officials, two days before the election.
For instance, a day before the election, Governors Nair El-Rufai of Kaduna state and Yahaya Bello of Kogi state, reportedly released a group picture on Friday, July 13 where they claimed to have gone to the state to support the APC candidate.
Governor El-Rufai made the visit known via his official Facebook page, where he wrote: “EKITI ELECTION: Having missed the APC mega-rallies due to scheduling conflicts, I went to Ekiti state to be on the ground to support my brother, friend and man of honour, Dr Kayode Fayemi in his re-election bid.
“Supporting him in Ado-Ekiti is HE Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi state.
I wish JKF and Ekiti people the best of luck as they elect sanity to replace insanity and 8-months salary arrears tomorrow!” It’s sweet victory -APC Meanwhile, the APC, through its National Publicity Secretary, Malam Bolaji Abdullahi, has congratulated Fayemi on his victory.
The party noted that “Fayemi ran an effective and positive campaign focused on his agenda of rebuilding the economy of the state and returning its lost values of integrity, prudence and decency.” It commended the INEC, security agencies, local and international observers, as well as other stakeholders, “for their admirable role in making the Ekiti gubernatorial election one in which the people’s will has prevailed” also thanked the Ekiti electorates for voting en masse for APC.
“We thank the Ekiti electorate for voting en masse for our Party’s candidate.
This is a demonstration of their trust and confidence in Dr.
Kayode Fayemi’s ability to deliver on his campaign promises and a rejection of the crude and pedestrian politics of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).” From page 6 PDP reacts But to the PDP, the exercise was a daylight robbery, so says it’s National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, while briefing journalists yesterday in Abuja.
He said, “The party rejects the falsified results and declaration of APC candidate, Dr.
Kayode Fayemi as the winner of the election, as a daylight robbery, a brazen subversion of the will of the people and direct assault on our democracy.” “From the authentic results flowing directly from the polling centers across the state, it is clear that the PDP candidate, Prof.
Kolapo Olusola-Eleka, incontrovertibly won the election, with very comfortable margin over the APC candidate, only for INEC to allow the alteration of results at the collation centers.
“Painfully, the people of Ekiti state were pillaged, openly brutalised, confronted with the worst form of cruelty and intimidation from security agencies, and their mandate, which they freely gave to the PDP, was snatched at ‘gun point’ by enemies of democracy, who are parading themselves as icons of anti-corruption,” he said.
‘A measure of our acceptability’ Meanwhile, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has described the APC’s victory as a measure of acceptance of the Buhari-led administration by Nigerians.
In a statement yesterday, the minister said, “with the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the just-concluded Ekiti governorship election, Nigeria people have spoken, and they have spoken loudly, about their perception of the APC-led Buhari Administration.
“The election was more than one state’s gubernatorial poll.
It was a referendum on the performance of the Buhari Administration.
And Nigerians have given their verdict! It’s not just a defeat for the PDP; it’s a defeat for all the naysayers who have made themselves the spokespersons for Nigerians.”

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