The All Progressives Congress in Oyo State on Tuesday thanked voters in the state and all over Nigeria for their contributions to the victory of its candidate in Saturday’s presidential election, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd).A statement by the APC’s Director of Publicity and Strategy in the state, Olawale Sadare, hailed the voters as soldiers of change and described Buhari’s victory as a worthy change for the survival of the nation.
Buhari recorded 528,620 votes in Oyo while President Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party had 303,376 votes.
But the PDP governorship candidate in the state, Teslim Folarin, credited Buhari’s victory in the state to manipulations by the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Rufus Akeju.
However, a noticeable crack appeared in the PDP rank when a former National Democratic Coalition officer and member of the PDP in the state, Ayoka Lawani, announced that she was leaving the party for APC, citing personal reasons for her decision.
In its statement, APC said, “Whatever victory the APC recorded at the polls was made possible by God and the patriotic electorate, who defied all odds to cast their ballots for all the candidates presented by our great party. Voters in Oyo State have demonstrated their resolve to assist the cause of change, which the APC is championing.”
The party also called on voters in the state to vote for the re-election of Governor Abiola Ajimobi and other APC candidates for the state House of Assembly on April 11.
“The need for continuity of good governance in the state should be established on April 11, 2015 when Governor Ajimobi is re-elected for another term of four years as this would seal the assurance of complete restoration, reformation and repositioning of the pacesetter state,” the statement stated.
While reacting to the performance of his party in the state, Folarin called for calm among the PDP supporters, describing Saturday’s election as the worst in terms of fairness in the history of the state.
He said, “This is a false reflection of the true opinion of the people. You can see there is no celebration in town because they know it is a stolen mandate. I will blame the irregularities on the Independent National Electoral Commission and its REC in the state, Akeju. Going by the negative records of Akeju in Osun State, where he previously held brief, he is not in any way expected to do otherwise.
“Several reports were lodged against Akeju by all the political parties in the state about his unfairness, but INEC chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, paid deaf ears to change this unfair umpire.”
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