The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has formally declared
Mr Rotimi Akeredolu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winner of last
Saturday’s governorship election in Ondo State.
Akeredolu polled 244, 842 to beat his closest rival, Eyitayo Jegede of the
People’s Democratic Party, (PDP), who polled 150, 380, while Olusola Oke
of the Alliance for Democracy, (AD) followed with a distant third of 126,
889 votes.
Returning officer, Professor Ganiu Amali made the announcement at about
12:50 pm on Sunday.
With this victory, the governor-elect of Ondo state and candidate of the
All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Akeredolu, now takes on the
responsibility of bringing everyone on board, to continue from where the
PDP governor, Dr, Olusegun Mimiko stopped.
In the meantime, the governor-elect says his victory is a clear
demonstration of the will of the people of Ondo state.
He believes that “the people have spoken and have indeed spoken well”, as
he would go straight into work, to bring about improvement in all aspects
of the state’s economy.
According to him, “there has been obvious neglect of people in the rural
areas, and his government will focus more on grass-root development.
This is the second time he will be contesting as governor or Ondo state,
having lost the first time to governor Olusegun Mimiko of the People’s
Democratic Party (PDP).
The election which many had feared would be characterized by violence,
given the tension that preceded the exercise, was however adjudged
peaceful.
Although violence erupted a day before the polls took off, leading to the
unfortunate killing of one person, the Federal Government ensured the
deployment of 26,000 policemen and 15,000 personnel from the Nigeria
Security and Civil Defence Corps, to avoid a further breakdown of law and
order.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC), had dropped Mr
Eyitayo Jegede and published the name of Mr Jimoh Ibrahim as the PDP
candidate, forcing Jegede to head to the court of appeal to retrieve his
ticket.
However, few days to the election, the court of appeal announced Jegede as
the rightful candidate of the party, after a go- ahead by the supreme
court.