Aftermath of Saturday’s governorship election, incumbent Governor Gboyega Oyetola and former Governor Rauf Aregbesola have opened up.
While Oyetola said he is the choice of God and those against him are working in vain, Aregbesola has told a faction of the party to hold their heads high in spite of the out come of the governorship primaries that took place.
While the Oyetola camp rated the exercise as credible and fair, the Aregbesola camp, whose candidate, Moshood Adeoti came second in the race, alleged massive irregularities.
Chairman of the faction of the APC, Rasak Salinsile, had alleged on Saturday that the names of members of the party opposed to Oyetola were deleted from the party registers used for the exercise.
Many videos had surfaced on Saturday how where many members displayed their membership slips at polling centres but could not find their names.
A statement on behalf of the Minister of Interior, said reports of what he called “shenanigans of the officials who conducted the sham of an election” had reached him.
He said, “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 the 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.”
In his immediate reaction, Oyetola said elections should not be a battle field.
The Governor said, “I just want to appeal to all our people across the state to maintain peace.
“Election process should not be a battlefield or a do-or-die affair.
“Let everyone exercise his/her right to choose in determining who represents them at the party level and ultimately at the general elections.
“So far, so good, I think this process has gone well, contrary to the speculations of violence.
“We have been in contact with a number of places and we have received positive signals of peace.
“Really, I don’t see why choosing a candidate to represent the party should be a thing of violence.”