The Labour Party (LP) in Ogun State has warned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) against issuing a certificate of return to Dapo Abiodun, the incumbent state governor, for a second term, saying that they do not agree to his victory in the polls.
The political party has also said that the INEC should re-conduct the Governorship election.
The INEC returning officer for the Governorship and State Assembly elections in the Ogun, Prof. Kayode Adebowale, had announced Governor Abiodun of the All Progressives Congress (APC) the winner of the election.
According to the Adebowale, Abiodun gained a total of 276,298 votes, as opposed to Ladi Adebutu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who polled 262,383 and was the governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
In harmony with an executive meeting which the LP held, a statement signed by the party’s Caretaker Committee chairman, Lookman Jagun, was released, claiming that the election should be rerun because of evidences of electoral corruption. According to the statement, these evidences reveal disruption of voting, ballot box snatching, burning of ballot papers in opposition strongholds and manipulating the voting and collation process.
The party, thus, require that the ‘premature declaration’ be annulled, and another election that does not violate the electoral rules be held.
The statement reads:
“The Labour Party as a coalition partner with the PDP in the gubernatorial election totally condemns the declaration of Abiodun as the winner of the election.
“The election should have been declared as inconclusive and a rerun conducted in areas where voting was disrupted by APC thugs.”
Also, the LP governorship candidate, Kehinde Sogunle, revealed that the APC candidate was only able to defeat the PDP candidate with less than 14,000 votes, while the cancelled votes in the election were 33,000 votes.
“Awarding Dapo Abiodun a certificate of return with the glaring fraud that characterised the election will amount to a rape of Democracy.
“The Labour Party is also not unmindful of the dastardly role of the Ogun state government in creating discord, acrimony and disunity within the Labour Party and its clandestine role in thwarting the nomination and listing of the candidates of the Labour Party to contest elective offices in the last election in Ogun state.”
The APC had earlier said that the governor won the election duly. The APC’s State Publicity Secretary, Tunde Oladunjoye, claimed that the election was largely calm and the result was a true reflection of the people’s choice.
Oladunjoye said, “We all witnessed how these desperate politicians band their gullible followers, bent on wrestling power by force, broke all rules of civility and violated electoral guidelines with reckless abandon.
“Our party, the All Progressives Congress, not only won the election with majority votes but also won in 12 of the 20 Local Government Areas in Ogun State. In addition, our party won 17 out of the 26 State House of Assembly constituency seats.”
