TheCable

Ayodele Fayose, governor of Ekiti state, has alleged that the Ondo state governorship election was rigged.

In a statement issued after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Rotimi Akeredolu winner of the exercise, Fayose said apart from the All Progressives Congress (APC), every other party contests against the electoral body in any election.

He accused INEC of deliberately replacing the name of Eyitayo Jegede, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in order to “create legal logjam”.

“Just as I would have loved to congratulate the winner, Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN), because in every contest, there must be a winner and a loser, the role of INEC in awarding victory to him in the election left much to be desired,” read a statement issued on his behalf by Lere Olayinka, his spokesman.

“Apart from the APC, political parties in Nigeria are now contesting elections against INEC.

“The PDP went to the election with its hands tied to the back because of the uncharitable actions of INEC, which has no doubt become an arm of the APC.”

He claimed that “to sustain the ‘see and buy’ strategy and legalise money politics, the APC-led federal government deliberately created poverty in the country so as to continue to enslave the minds of Nigerians with peanuts to get their votes on election day”.

“Dibo ko sebe (vote and collect money to cook soup) was the slang used by the APC in the Ondo state election and that only worked because the APC federal government have put Nigerians in abject poverty,” he said.

“Even though INEC allowed what appeared like a free and fair atmosphere on the election day, the election had been won and lost before it was held.

“For instance, INEC that witnessed the PDP primary election that produced Mr Eyitayo Jegede succumbed to pressure from the APC cabal to replace him with Jimoh Ibrahim, who did not take part in any primary election known to the Electoral Act.

“What could anyone have done under 72 hours in an election that was heavily monetised by the APC? The whole process was a deliberate sabotage by INEC, which has totally bastardised the electoral process.

“Obviously, all these shenanigans are geared towards turning Nigeria to a one part state by weakening all opposition parties ahead of the 2019 general elections but I can assure Nigerians that this will not last because the people will always be defeat tyranny.”