Posted by By AKEEB ALARAPE and OLUSEYE OJO, Ibadan on
The political camp of the immediate past governor of Oyo State, Senator Rasidi Ladoja, was thrown into a sad mood yesterday as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the candidate of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the by-election into Lagelu/Akinyele federal constituency in the House of Representatives as winner of the election.
The political camp of the immediate past governor of Oyo State, Senator Rasidi Ladoja, was thrown into a sad mood yesterday as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the candidate of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the by-election into Lagelu/Akinyele federal constituency in the House of Representatives as winner of the election.
But Ladoja's candidate in the election, Alhaji Basiru Latinwo, who contested on the banner of the Action Congress (AC), has cried foul over the result announced by INEC, describing it as a farce.
In the released result signed by INEC's Returning Officer, Mr. Ofondu Haruna, PDP candidate, Mr. Oyetunji Omotayo, polled 17,507 votes to beat AC candidate, Latinwo, who scored 4,906 votes. The All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) candidate, Mr. Egbedeyi Olufemi, came a distant third with 2, 347 votes while Mr. Are Tunde-Arowolo of the Action Alliance (AA) followed with 115 votes.
Mr. Okunola Rufai of the National Conscience Party (NCP) got 23 votes; Olajide Olatunde of the Democratic Party Alliance (DPA) recorded 20 votes while the United Nigerian Peoples Party's candidate, Adeleke Adebola scored 12 votes.
But reacting to the result yesterday, Latinwo, who was Ladoja's former Chief Media Officer (CMO), insisted that the PDP rigged the election with active connivance of the police and the INEC officials. He cited several cases of assault on AC polling agents and outright stealing of ballot boxes in Lagelu local government area.
'You too can see the number of thugs arrested by security personnel in just two local government areas.Can that be an election? People in the state also saw how the deputy-governor and his godfather, Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu traversed the constituency yesterday (Sunday), injuring our members and in the process instilled fears into the people. Their agents also stuffed ballot boxes with already thumb-printed ballot papers", Latinwo stated.
He aligned with the position of the ANPP that the election should be cancelled to safeguard the nascent democracy.
A chieftain of PDP in the state, Senator Lekan Balogun, has also described the by-election as a mockery of democracy, saying it was marred by irregularities while ‘ballot boxes were violently snatched and multiple voting was perpetrated by Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu's thugs'.
'In view of the above, I implore the police to investigate those arrested in connection with the above irregularities and charge them to court accordingly. Equally important is the need for INEC to render void those ballot papers fraudulently tampered with. Needless to say that the institutionalization of rights and liberty of Oyo State people and Nigerian citizens as a whole, is a responsibility of all", Balogun said in a statement issued yesterday to condemn the election.
Meanwhile, declared winner of the election, Mr. Oyetunji Omotayo, has described the election result as the true reflection of the wish and aspirations of the people of the constituency. He promised to represent the constituency well at the National Assembly irrespective of his political affiliation.
The Saturday bye-election followed the gruesome murder of Hon. Olusegun Oladimeji, popularly known as Segelu, on September 14,2007 by yet to be identified gunmen who attacked him at a drinking joint at Ejioku village, a suburb of Ibadan.