LP, SDP reject Ogun governorship poll result, ask for rerun

Two candidates in the March 18 governorship election in Ogun state have rejected the result declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and called on the electoral umpire to organize a rerun.

Candidate of the Labour Party (LP) and that of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in separate statements issued in Abeokuta on the outcome of the election rejected the victory of incumbent governor, Dapo Abiodun

The INEC returning officer for the governorship and state assembly election in the state, Prof. Kayode Adebowale, had on Sunday, declared governor Abiodun of the All Progressives Congress as the winner of the election.

Adebowale said Abiodun polled a total of 276,298 votes, while Ladi Adebutu of the Peoples Democratic Party scored 262,383 and the governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Biyi Otegbeye garnered 94,754 votes

The LP governorship candidate, Kehinde Sogunle, who had announced his alignment with Adebutu ahead of the election, said the APC candidate was only able to defeat the PDP candidate with less than 14,000 votes, while the cancelled votes in the election were 33,000 votes

“The Labour Party as a coalition partner with the PDP in the gubernatorial election totally condemns the declaration of Abiodun as the winner of the election.

“The election should have been declared as inconclusive and a rerun conducted in areas where voting was disrupted by APC thugs,” the statement read.

Similarly, SDP candidate, Anthony Ojeshina who also stepped down for Adebutu described the outcome as ‘a rape of democracy’.

Ojeshina argued that the facts on the ground were enough for the Independent National Electoral Commission to declare the election inconclusive.

He said, “the declaration by the INEC is a rape of our democratic process.

“It is clear to all that the governorship election should have been declared inconclusive based on hard facts on ground and the 2022 INEC Electoral Act.

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“The SDP and other coalition partners remain committed to the cause of ensuring that Hon Ladi Adebutu gets justice and occupies his rightful position as the legitimate governor of Ogun State.

“SDP remains committed to the course of creating a model state and will join hands with PDP to actualise this.

“We are counting on the judiciary, the peoples’ last arbiter to salvage this travesty of Justice.”