By Correspondent in Ado-Ekiti.
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti state, Hon. Kayode Babade, has described the outcome of the Ekiti State governorship election as the true wishes of the people.
Babade, who is the APC agent at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) collation centre, Ado-Ekiti said the people had shown that they stood firmly behind their Governor, against all odds, in electing the candidate of their choice.
Speaking in an interview in Ado-Ekiti on Sunday, Babade, while reacting to the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Saturday governorship election, said the outcome represents the will of the people to vote in free, fair, credible and peaceful elections.
“The people of Ekiti State who had sleepless nights in order to protect their votes, those who rejected the cash being thrown around to buy their votes and the intimidation to force them to compromise their belief, deserve our praise.
“Therefore, my congratulations go to all the people of Ekiti State.
“Let me also give kudos to the leaders and supporters of our party, the APC, for working together to achieve this victory.
“The APC leaders and members in Ekiti State who whole-heatedly accepted Governor Kayode Fayemi since he mounted the number one seat in the state and cooperated with him to bring about this victory deserve to be appreciated,”Babade, who is the Chairman, Board for Technical and Vocational Education,said.
The Director, Media and Publicity of Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji (BAO) campaign organisation, Rt. Hon. Taiwo Olatubosun, said the result of the just concluded election represents the fact that the people actually desired to be governed by a truly democratic government, headed by those they genuinely voted for.
Olatubosun, a former Deputy Speaker of the State House of Assembly, said the results represent “the fact that our security and electoral officials can conduct free and fair elections if they have the right atmosphere.
“We are happy that throughout this election, we did not see the military brutalising the people or security officials supervising the snatching of ballot boxes and vandalisation of votes.
“Thus, the military and other security agencies deserve commendation for this successful poll.
“We also saw how the INEC officials maturely handled the complaints of various election centers that could have ordinarily create confusion.
“The INEC and its officials deserve to be commended for their neutrality in this election.
“We can see that the result represents realistic figures from one local government area to the other. No case of outlandish figures being reeled out. That is also a sign of some level of credibility in the process.
“It is for the above reasons that I have to commend President Muhammadu Buhari for keeping the military out of this election and for giving the instructions that led to the apparent neutrality of members of INEC and other security officials in the entire process.
“The Ekiti election result is a victory for our country, her people and democracy. We have shown that the glory of the country is more valuable to the citizens than the wish of a tiny power clique,”Olatubosun, who is the chairman of the House of Assembly Service Commission said.
The duo, therefore,called on the Governor-elect, Mr Biodun Oyebanji to see his his election as an opportunity to deliver on his campaign promises and to continually work to actualise the wishes and aspirations of the Ekiti people.
Our Correspondent recalls that Prof. Oyebode Adebowale, the INEC Returning Officer, had earlier declared Biodun Oyebanji winner of the Saturday’s governorship election with a total votes of 187, 057.
