Why our group overlooked over-voting at PDP South West congress – Fayose

Former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, has said he and other supporters chose to overlook over-voting at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) South West Zonal congress because of the interest of the party.

In the election held on Monday, Governor Seyi Makinde’s candidate, Ambassador Taofeek Arapaja narrowly defeated Fayose’s candidate, Dr. Eddy Olafeso to become the PDP Chairman, Southwest.

Arapaja polled 343 votes to defeat Olafeso, who got 330 votes.

Newsflash Nigeria gathered that a total of 684 delegates were accredited and 674 total votes cast. There were however 10 voided votes after counting.

Ekiti – Out of 115 delegates on the list, 104 were accredited and voted.

Lagos – Out of 101 on the list, 90 accredited delegates voted.

Ogun – Out of 114 on the list, 101 were accredited. Voting is ongoing.

Ondo – Out of 113 on the list, 104 were accredited.

Osun – Out of 134 on the list, 111 accredited delegates voted

Oyo – Out of 171 on the list, 165 accredited delegates voted.

Announcing the results, the Deputy Governor of Benue State, Benson Abonu, who is the chairman of the PDP Electoral Committee, declared Arapaja winner of the Chairmanship contest.

But Fayose, in series of tweets late Monday night congratulated Arapaja on his emergence as the Southwest Zonal Chairman of the PDP.

“Like I said in my speech at the beginning of the congress that we should win together and we have indeed won together.

“Whatever may be our reservations on the issue of over-voting, we have chosen to look at the larger picture, which is the PDP.

“We must therefore use our energy and resources to rebuild the party,” he said.

Fayose added: “Arapaja’s 343 and Olafeso’s 330 votes, has simply shown strength on the two sides, this should be explored by the party, going forward.

“I thank the National Working Committee (NWC) for helping to bring this congress behind us.”

At the congress, Fayose and Makinde settled their rift and reconciled, with Fayose accepting Makinde as his Southwest leader.

In his remarks, Makinde described the congress as a family affair and also an attempt to reposition the PDP in the South West.

“This election is a family affair and also an attempt to reposition the PDP in the South-West and the outcome will have implications for our party at the national level. We don’t want to defeat ourselves but rather we want to defeat the opposition.

“As the only PDP governor in the South West, I will work with anyone who emerges as the chairman in the zone and I will work with the team to reposition our party,’’ Makinde said.

Newsflash Nigeria is an online newspaper that is developed and written exclusively for Nigerians. It’s packed with up-to-the-minute Local and National Economy News, Share & Capital Market, Health, Sports, Education, Technology, Business and Opinions.

To make further advert enquiries or place an order, please contact us at [email protected] and +2348053316946 and WhatsApp number 08033546732