Prof Attahiru Jega, INEC Chairman

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday officially declared the Peoples Dem­ocratic Party (PDP) gov­ernorship candidate, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, as the win­ner of Ekiti State governor­ship election.     

According to the electoral body, Fayose polled 203,090 votes to defeat incumbent Governor Kayode Fayemi, of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who scored 120,433 votes.

The Returning Officer and Vice Chancellor of the Feder­al University, Oye Ekiti, Prof. Isaac Azuzu, said: “Ayodele Peter Fayose of PDP, having satisfied the requirements of the law and scored the high­est number of votes, is hereby declared the winner and is re­turned elected.”

The results of the election held in the 16 local govern­ments of the state in which 18 governorship candidates participated, showed that La­bour Party standard bearer, Michael Opeyemi Bamidele, got 18, 135 votes.

The election, which was rated as peaceful, free and fair, held under tight security and Fayose won in all the 16 local government areas of the state.

Already, in a rare display of spirit of sportsmanship, Governor Fayemi has con­gratulated Mr. Fayose on his electoral victory. In a state broadcast to the people of Ekiti yesterday, the governor said he had no option than to accept the result of the elec­tion and congratulate Fayose.

He said: “Yesterday, Ekiti State decided. Following the gubernatorial elections held in the land of honour, Ekiti State, Nigeria, the Independent Na­tional Electoral Commission (INEC) has officially returned the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the winner of the election.

“If indeed, this is the will of the Ekiti people, I stand in deference to your will. If the result of the elections is an expression of the voice of our people, we must all heed your voice; if indeed the outcome of the election is the will of the Ekiti people.”

The governor revealed that he had just spoken with Fay­ose congratulating him on his victory, adding that he would be meeting the governor-elect in the next few hours to fash­ion out ways to institute a smooth transition programme.

Fayemi described the elec­tion as a hard fought one, adding, however, that despite party affiliations, Ekiti people should see themselves as one.

He noted that the record of performance of his adminis­tration would continue to be a reference point in the history of the state, stressing that he had succeeded in raising the bar of excellence in gover­nance.

Also, Bamidele has ex­pressed appreciation to Ekiti people for their support for him during the election con­ducted last Saturday, saying as a mature politician, he saw the conduct of the election as scheduled by INEC as a true reflection of true democracy.

In a statement signed by Ahmed Salami, his media aide, shortly after INEC’s an­nouncement of the election results, Bamidele hailed the commission and all security agencies involved in the entire process for their roles and for allowing Ekiti people to be involved in the nation’s demo­cratic process.

He thanked the people of Iyin Ekiti, his hometown, for staying by him through his campaign rallies and the elec­tion.

Bamidele said their sup­port was attributable to the tremendous spread and ac­ceptability of Labour Party across the state despite being introduced to them in less than five months.



Source: Sun