By ‘Dotun Akintomide
In the spirit of statesmanship, Governor, Ibrahim Dankwambo of Gombe State and former Delta Governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan have congratulated Dr. Kayode Fayemi, of the All Progressives Congress, over his victory in the Ekiti governorship election on Saturday
Dankwambo, a PDP presidential aspirant, in a tweet today said: “We gave all the necessary support to our party and the candidate, Professor Kolapo Olusola Eleka to win the #EkitiDecides2018, but sad we lost. In life, you win some and lose some. Congratulations to the winner, Dr. John Kayode Fayemi.”
His statement was in sharp contrast to the position of his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which rejected “in its entirety”, the outcome of the election, echoeing the local branch in Ekiti.
https://twitter.com/HEDankwambo/status/1018405512050769920?s=19
Also, a former Delta state governor and leader of the People’s Democratic Party, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan has congratulated Dr. Kayode Fayemi, the All Progressives Congress candidate and winner of the Ekiti governorship election.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, on Sunday morning declared Fayemi as winner of the keenly contested political contest.
Uduaghan on Twitter said, “Congrats to my friend, former colleague and co-director at the NIPP, Gov Kayode Fayemi”.
Congrats my friend, former colleague and co-Director in NIPP, Governor-elect Dr. @kfayemi on your victory at the #EKITI2018POLL #Ekiti2018 #EkitiDecide pic.twitter.com/KiPVEurra7
— Emmanuel E Uduaghan (@eeuofficial) July 15, 2018
Meanwhile, the PDP in a statement by Kola Ologbondiyan, National Publicity Secretary said it rejected “whatever outcome is being concocted by the All Progressives Congress (APC), the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies, in the governorship election in Ekiti state.
“The process, characterized by open alteration of results, brutalization of innocent citizens, barefaced cruelty and intimidation of our members by security agencies, is a brazen assault against democracy and a direct subversion of the will of the people which is completely unacceptable.
“The PDP is armed with the details of all manipulations by the APC, who is being aided by security agencies and compromised INEC officials to rig the election, particularly, the audacious alteration and substitution of election results in favour of the APC at the collation centres amidst the brutalization of our agents.
“The PDP also has details of all the polling units where we won, mostly with very wide margin ahead of the APC, only for the security agencies to aid the swapping and alteration of such results with those smuggled in by the APC at the collation centres.
“It is instructive to state that all the issues we raised ahead of the election, including the conspiracy between the APC, some compromised INEC officials and security agencies; the importation of thugs from other states by the APC; the use of brutal force against our members and the alteration of results in favour of the APC, have all manifested.
“The PDP holds strongly that there is no way our democracy can survive with an electoral process such as this, being witnessed today in Ekiti state under President Muhammadu Buhari and the current INEC.
“This bald-faced subversion of the will of the people is a clear recipe for a serious crisis and we invite Nigerians and the international community to hold President Buhari and his APC as well as the INEC Chairman and heads of security agencies in Nigeria responsible for any breakdown of law and order in Ekiti state as a result of this election.
“This on-going robbery of the franchise of Ekiti people is a horrible rape of our democracy and most uncharitable of President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC who hugely benefitted from the credible election midwifed by the PDP in 2015”.
