President of the Senate and
Chairman of the PDP Presidential Council on Osun State, Dr. Abubakar Bukola
Saraki, has reiterated that the recently-conducted supplementary election in
Osun State was a charade and an embarrassment to Nigeria’s democracy.
His position was contained in a
statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu.
Gboyega Oyetola of the All
Progressives Congress (APC) defeated Senator Ademola Adeleke of the PDP with
482 votes in the rerun poll conducted on Thursday.
Oyetola scored a total of 255,505
while Adeleke scored 255,023.
In his reaction to the final
outcome of the governorship poll, Saraki said: “Yesterday, we witnessed another
display of the subversion of the will of the Osun people during the re-run
gubernatorial elections in the State. The election was characterised by
widespread voter intimidation, violence and harassment. Accredited observers
were denied access to polling units and duly registered voters were prevented
from participating in the electoral process by thugs and compromised security
agents..
“Like I said a few days ago, this
needless re-run election was only designed as an avenue for the ruling party to
perpetrate electoral fraud. The nature of these elections is an embarrassment
to our democracy and casts an alarming pall on the institutions responsible for
protecting the will of the Nigerian people as stated through their votes. That
was why for more than ten hours the INEC could not collate and announce results
in just seven polling units with just over 2000 votes.
“It is surprising that the
election in which on Saturday, the two leading candidates were running neck to
neck with the PDP candidate having an edge, four days later, as a result of
manipulations and impossible conditions, the APC candidate is now being
credited with all the votes and some paltry number of votes were being recorded
for the PDP candidate.
“It is important for Nigerians
and the international community to insist that the hands of the clock should
not be turned back in terms of the achievements we recorded in the last general
elections. We should not make a mockery of democracy by conducting elections in
the manner that the Osun Polls were conducted. The Osun election is a clear
indication of how the 2019 election will be conducted. It demonstrates that if
we cannot conduct free, peaceful and fair elections in seven polling units
spread across four local government areas of a state, then the conduct of the
general elections in 774 local government areas across 36 states of the country
is already endangered.
“I therefore call on the
government, INEC, security agencies and development partners to ensure a
radical change in the way and manner the next set of elections will be
conducted. Osun 2018 Polls is a very low point in our electoral system.
“In the 2015 elections, Nigeria
witnessed several gains in its electoral process. The process was transparent
and people’s votes counted. These gains made it possible for the then
opposition party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) to win at the centre and
in many states of the nation. That election highlighted a fine moment in
Nigeria’s democracy.”
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