By Femi Ogbonnikan in Abeokuta
The Ogun State governorship candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Adekunle Akinlade, yesterday rejected the on-going election results being announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the state.
According to the APM Governorship Campaign Director-General (DG), Chief Sarafa Isola, who spoke alongside Akinlade at the party’s secretariat at Leme in Abeokuta, he rejected the results of the governorship and state House of Assembly) elections.
Ishola in a statement alleged that the gubernatorial election which began peacefully last Saturday was allegedly hijacked by hoodlums and “unidentified uniform men” during the collation stage, and further manipulated the results in favour of All Progressives Congress (APC).
He said the APM had petitioned the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Prof Abdulganiyu Raji, to urgently investigate the “infractions” and stop the ongoing announcement of results forthwith.
The DG, however, expressed concerns that despite the complaints, the INEC has started announcing the results.
Isola described the outcome of the election as a “miscarriage of justice,” saying the results did not reflect the wishes of the electorate as freely expressed last Saturday.
“I hereby, on behalf of APM, formally reject the collation process that was hijacked and compromised because it did not reflect the wishes of the people of Ogun State as freely expressed on March 9 governorship and House of Assembly elections.
“The APM wishes to put INEC on notice that we shall explore every means within the provisions of the constitution and the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to challenge this miscarriage of justice.
“We shall also ensure that the wishes of the people of the state as freely expressed at the polls are protected,” said Isola.
Akinlade, on his own, said: “The people of Ogun State have been raped,” urging them to maintain peace while the leadership of APM explores all legal means to undo the alleged injustice.”
