The main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Labour Party (LP) and the Coalition of Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP), on Sunday, strongly wrote off the Saturday Ondo State governorship election, which the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), incumbent Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa as the winner.
In separate reactions to the outcome of the poll, the PDP, Labbour Party and the CUPP said the election lacked all democratic norms, standards and processes
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) particularly described election as the worst yet conducted by the INEC.
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In its reaction to the declaration of Governor Aiyedatiwa as the winner of the poll, the main opposition party said in a statement by its national spokesman, Debo Ologunagba, that the party and indeed all lovers of democracy in Nigeria and across the world have just witnessed the worst election conducted by INEC in the history of the country.
It said the election runs short of all expectations and requirements of a free, fair and credible election as it witnessed the height of electoral swindle, deceit and manipulation by the All Progressives Congress (APC).
According to the PDP, this election witnessed widespread election merchandising, monetization and barefaced vote buying by the APC and its apparatus in government to suppress the genuine aspiration of the people.
“This devious practice by the APC was rampant and pervasive because the APC has utterly impoverished Nigerians and turned poverty into a weapon of mass subjugation which enabled it to manipulate the election and its outcome.
“We call the attention of all Nigerians and the International Community to this reprehensible practice by the APC as widely witnessed in the November 16, 2024 Governorship election in Ondo State and we demand that serious action be taken to stem such if Nigeria’s democracy must survive,” it said.
The statement informed that in the meantime, the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP will be having a more detailed review of the election and its outcome and “take appropriate action in the defence of our democracy.”
In the same vein, the CUPP and the Labour Party alleged gross irregularities, including vote-buying and other forms of manipulations in the election that 17 political parties fielded candidates.
In a statement on Sunday by the spokesman of the coalition, Comrade Mark Adebayo, it alleged widespread vote buying, especially by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and bias by the security agencies that were on ground during the poll.
The CUPP alleged that the fundamental elements of a free, fair, democratic, and credible election were glaringly missing in the conduct of the election.
According to the CUPP, there is no way the APC can win any election in the country, going by the economic hardship the economic policies and programmes of the APC-led administration have inflicted on the citizens.
The coalition alleged a ploy by the ruling APC to foist a one-party state on the country, saying it has alerted its members to be on guard.
CUPP warned that what is currently happening in the country is not democracy but a deliberate policy of state capture by anti-democratic forces who, it said, were determined to undermine and ultimately destroy the nation’s democracy as they did in the First and Second republics.
The coalition, however, said it remained vigilant and determined to ensure that anti-democratic forces were not allowed to bring down the country by scuttling its democratic development as a sovereign nation.
“This is not democracy, but a deliberate policy of state capture by antidemocratic forces who are determined to undermine and ultimately destroy our democracy as they did in the First and Second republics.
“All hands shall be on deck to rescue Nigeria and Nigerians from the shackles of oppression, repression and the corrosive influence of obnoxious politicking. God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” it prayed.
Also, Labour Party deputy governorship candidate in Ondo State election, Olabisi Olubunkola Adu has said the party and indeed the Obi-dients will join other aggrieved political parties, stakeholders and youths to occupy the streets of Ondo State and wage a formidable legal battle based on alleged fraud.
Olabisi Adu told newsmen said some of the early reports received from the agents of the Labour Party indicated substantial incidents of vote-buying and intimidation of voters.
She said a stakeholders review meeting is planned for today to x-ray the integrity of the elections and a firm decision will be taken on the fate of the elections during the meeting by all concerned.
She said, “If the election is deemed unflawed and credible, we shall be the first to congratulate whoever emerges as the winner of the elections.”
Leon Usigbe, Bola Badmus and Idahosa Moses @The Tribune
