OSUN State Governor Adegboyega Oyetola has been declared winner of the All Progressives Congress, APC, governorship primary election held on Saturday.
He polled 222,169 votes, while his closest rival, Moshood Adeoti, polled 12,921 votes.
Adeoti was the anointed candidate of the Minister of Interior Rauf Aregbesola.
The State’s House of Representatives, former Deputy Speaker Lasun Yusuf, polled 460 votes.
While announcing the results, the chairman of the primary election committee and Governor of Kwara State Abdulrasak Abdulrahman said the total registered voters for the exercise was 408,697.
According to him, accredited voters were 247, 207, while the total vote cast and valid votes were 235,550.
Osun APC primary: Large turnout as Oyetola, Adeoti battle for gubernatorial ticket
The election was hotly contested between the Ileri Oluwa faction, whose loyalty was to Oyetola, and another faction, The Osun Progressives (TOP), loyal to Aregbesola.
Aregbesola, in a statement on Saturday, described the election as a sham as members of his group alleged the removal of their names from the voter’s register.
He cited several irregularities including the lack of accreditations in many wards and the absence of the officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in many polling units.
“We have been inundated with reports state-wide of how your names were expunged from the party’s voters register, which was not made available until this morning, contrary to the convention of making the list available to the candidates before the election,” he said.
“We have heard of how party registration cards were being hawked this morning to the supporters of the state governor. We have also received reports of how accreditation was not done at all in many wards and how people without the party identification just participated and queued behind the governor in many polling units.
“We have received the report from our members and independent observers, how government officials and notable supporters of the governor officiated in the election, how votes were farcically counted in favour of the governor and how the votes recorded for him were more than the number of voters accredited ab initio in many units.
“We have heard of the absence of result sheets and other vital documents for recording results and vital data. We note also the absence of INEC officials in most wards, casting serious doubt on the credibility of the election.”
He prevailed on his supporters not to be downcast or resort to violence over the outcome of the exercise.
He also noted that his faction would seek redress in the court.
“Please remain committed to peace and the rule of law. Be unflinching in your commitment to the democratic ideals. Democracy is for the long haul. As you all know, we never tire and we never give up on the cause we believe in. Be rest assured that victory is ours.”
The ICIR, earlier reported the characters and power intrigues of the election here and Oyetola wining Aregbesola’s ward here.
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