The Ekiti Governor-elect, Dr Kayode Fayemi, has hailed the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the July 14 governorship election, Prof. Kolapo Olusola, for going to the tribunal in the resolution of the dispute arising from the Ekiti election.
The Independent National Electoral Commission had declared Fayemi of the All Progressives Congress as the winner of the election.
But on Friday, the PDP’s candidate filed his petition at the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, seeking to upturn the victory.
Olusola claimed he scored the majority lawful votes cast in the election, as according to him, the poll was marred by results falsification, ballot stuffing and ballot snatching.
A statement by the Director of Media and Publicity of Kayode Fayemi Campaign Organisation, Wole Olujobi, said filing the action was the right of the petitioner as it would strengthen democracy.
“Even though it is the petitioner’s right to seek legal redress in his complaint, it is a fact that the July 14 governorship election that returned Dr Kayode Fayemi is one of the best elections conducted by INEC in this country in which the will of the people was freely expressed.
“For this reason, Fayemi won one of the best, freest and fairest elections in Nigeria as attested to by the elite election monitoring group, Transition Monitoring Group, which rattled Governor Ayodele Fayose, who thereafter assembled fake observers’ group populated by PDP members who tried to discredit the exercise.
“We won the election in a very free and fair manner and we have no doubt that the tribunal will find this to be the case too in their final judgement.
“Judgement on the petition will be in accordance with the law and not to the terms of the petitioner, and so Eleka cannot be a judge in this case as he sought to do in his petition.
“Now that he has filed his petition, he should leave the tribunal to decide if he won or not and not to prejudge, as the petitioner tried to do in his complaint to the tribunal.”
The statement, however, faulted claim by the petitioner that APC members and Ekiti people, in general, did not celebrate Fayemi’s victory.
“Immediately results started trickling in, almost all towns and communities erupted in jubilation.
“In Ikere-Ekiti country home of the PDP candidate, there was blaring of horns and trumpets while all relaxation points were jam-packed by a deluge of revellers celebrating their freedom from a callous and greedy administration of PDP that reversed all the fortunes recorded by Fayemi’s administration between 2010 and 2014.”
Fayemi also faulted Olusola for complaining that the closure of Ekiti radio was part of measures to rig the election.
“It is baffling that Eleka, who conspired with Fayose to commit treason by illegally seizing a radio station to criminally announce a fake result, still had the temerity to complain that the closure of the station is part of measures to rig the election,” the statement added
