•Abejide
The candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Dare Abejide, has faulted the Ekiti governorship election, describing the exercise as a “bad day for democracy”.
Abejide made the remarks when he was featured on Channels Television last night, claiming that the exercise, which gave Governor Biodun Oyebanji a fresh four-year term, was flawed.
“First, the election was a very bad one. Yesterday was a very bad day for democracy in the state. It was a day when democracy took flight from Ekiti State,” the two-time Secretary to the Government of Ekiti State said on the current affairs show.
“It was a day when the polling units, particularly my polling booth, became a political marketplace where votes were canvassed for, sold, and bought by politicians. It was a day the security agents abandoned their duties and took sides with the oppressor. It was a day when hungry people went and took money from the oppressors in exchange for their rights.
“Generally, it was a very bad day. At my polling booth, where I voted, there was massive rigging and the massive sale of votes, and it happened everywhere in the state. It merely shows that you don’t need to campaign anymore; all you need to do is keep your money for election day and buy votes. The government of the day has weaponised poverty, and that makes it so easy for them to buy votes. So, let’s get it clear.”
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared incumbent Oyebanji of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the exercise conducted on Saturday.
According to the electoral umpire, the governor polled 319,224 votes to beat other contenders. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s Oluwole Oluyede got 40,543 votes, just as Bejide scored 12,872 votes from the exercise held in 16 local government areas of the South-West state.
However, Bejide accused the ruling APC of inducing voters with money and intimidating the opposition.
“It was like a battleground,” the ADC candidate said, claiming, “I suspect it was something that was simply fed into the computers.”
While the exercise has been concluded, Bejide said the “options are many” for him going forward.
“One of them is to consult with my party members. We are still collecting results from all the polling units. We will analyse the results and take appropriate action,” the 66-year-old said.
