Oyetola clinches APC Osun governorship ticket, as Aregbesola faults polls, considers legal action

Osun Governor, Adegboyega Oyetola has officially been declared winner of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship ticket for the July 16 elections.

This is, however, as former governor of the state and Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola faulted the political exercise which saw Oyetola emerge as the party’s candidate for the July election.

Oyetola, the incumbent is seeking a second term in office, faced off the challenge of his rivals from the TOP faction of the party in the state led by Ogbeni Aregbesola, whose candidate lost the poll, conducted last Saturday.

The governor defeated Moshood Adeoti and Yusuf Lasun to win the Osun APC governorship primary on Saturday.

The results were announced around 3am on Sunday by Abdulrahman AbdulRaqak, Kwara state governor and chairman of the Osun APC primary election committee.

Aregbesola, a two-term former governor of the state, and Oyetola have been at loggerheads. The minister is openly campaigning against the governor for reelection.

Oyetola won across the 332 wards of the state where the election was conducted via direct primaries.

The chairman of the primary election committee and the governor of Kwara State, AbdulRahman AbsulRazaq, announced the result in the early hours of Sunday at the APC Secretariat in Osogbo, the Osun State capital.

Returning officers for all the 30 local governments and the area council had announced the results as collated from all the wards in their various local government areas.

Oyetola polled 222,169 to defeat his closest rival, the former Secretary to the Osun State Government, Moshood Adeoti, who polled 12921, while the ex-Deputy Speaker of the House of Representative came third with 460 votes.

In his remarks, the state chairman of APC, Prince Gboyega Famodun, commended the committee and the representatives of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the successful conduct of the exercise.

Meanwhile, reacting to the conduct of the exercise, earlier Saturday, Aregbesola, identified some shortcomings in the APC governorship primary election in Osun State, as he also hinted at pursuing legal action against the party.

Aregbesola in an official statement by his media adviser, Sola Fasure, titled, ‘Hold your heads high,’ identified the shortcomings to include; vote-buying, absence of result sheets, absence of INEC officials, and disenfranchisement.

“On behalf of the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, I will like to thank you most sincerely for heeding the call earlier this morning to participate in our party’s governorship primary and conduct yourselves most peacefully. You adopted a non-violent posture, even in the face of sore provocation.

“You have demonstrated your loyalty to the party and democratic ideals. You have comported yourselves as Omoluabi in the true essence.

“We have received and continue to receive the reports of the shenanigans of the officials who conducted the sham of an election. We have been inundated with reports state-wide of how your names were expunged from the party’s voters register, which was not made available until this morning, contrary to the convention of making the list available to the candidates before the election.

“We have heard of how party registration cards were being hawked this morning to the supporters of the state governor.

“We have also received reports of how accreditation was not done at all in many wards and how people without party identification just participated and queued behind the governor in many polling units.

“We have received the report from our members and independent observers, how government officials and notable supporters of the governor officiated in the election, how votes were farcically counted in favour of the governor and how the votes recorded for him were more than the number of voters accredited ab initio in many units.

“We have heard of the absence of result sheets and other vital documents for recording results and vital data. We note also the absence of INEC officials in most wards, casting serious doubt on the credibility of the election.

“We note with shame and much regret the consternation of local and international observers on what they regard as a travesty of an election.

“I will urge you to maintain your cool and calm. Be not downcast, be not agitated. Hold your head high. We are still receiving and studying all these reports and will take a definitive position on them.

“You are urged not to take laws into your hands. Please leave the rest to the Almighty God and let us explore all peaceful and legal means for addressing the matter in order to obtain justice.

“Please remain committed to peace and the rule of law. Be unflinching in your commitment to the democratic ideals. Democracy is for the long haul. As you all know, we never tire and we never give up on the cause we believe in. Be rest assured that victory is ours,” the statement read.