#ONDODECIDES | How Akered­olu won

Former Nigerian Bar Associ­ation (NBA) President and candidate of the All Pro­gressives Congress (APC), Mr. Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akered­olu (SAN), has emerged the gov­ernor of Ondo State.

He polled a total of 224,842 votes to defeat 27 candidates from other political parties in Saturday’s election to clinch the office.

Akeredolu was announced the winner of the election by the Independent National Elector­al Commission (INEC) Return­ing Officer, Prof. Abdul Ganiyu Ambali.

He was trailed by the PDP candidate, Eyitayo Olayinka Jegede, who scored 150,380 votes while Olusola Alex Oke of the Al­liance for Democracy (AD) came third place with 126,889 votes.

Declaring the result, Ambali said that

“Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu, having fulfilled the re­quirements of the law and got the highest votes is the winner and is returned elected.”

The state has a total of 1,647,973 registered voters and 584,997 were accredited for the election while a total of 580,887 votes were cast.

A total of 551,272 votes were valid and 29,615 votes were reject­ed across the 18 local government areas in the state.

Soon, after he was declared the winner, Akeredolu’s support­ers gathered at his house in Owo for a wild celebration.

His victory was also greeted by protests by PDP supporters in Akure, the state capital.

Meanwhile, President Mu­hammadu Buhari has congratu­lated Akeredolu on his victory at the poll.

Describing the victory as “well-deserved”, Buhari also con­gratulated the Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oye­gun, the Chairman of the Cam­paign Committee, Governor Si­mon Lalong of Plateau State, and all the party faithful who put in their best and braved the odds to ensure a successful outing for Ak­eredolu.

A Presidency statement said the President rejoiced with Ondo people who aligned with his own belief that Akeredolu, with his pedigree, possesses the qualities to transform the state into the Ondo of their dreams.

“From the beginning, this election set out to be a different kind. The unity and resilience of the party was tested. I am happy we came out of this victorious. This is a huge win,” Buhari said.

Similarly, Odigie-Oyegun has congratulated Akeredolu and Hon. Agboola Ajayi, the deputy-governor-elect on their landslide victory.

In a message issued on Sun­day on behalf of the APC National Working Committee (NWC), Od­igie-Oyegun thanked the Ondo electorate for voting for the APC and expressed gratitude to the good people of Ondo for their im­pressive turnout and peaceful con­duct during the election.

In his reaction to the outcome of the poll, Senator Buruji Kasha­mu of the Ali Modu Sheriff’s fac­tion of the PDP, accused the Sen­ator Ahmed Makarfi-led National Caretaker Committee of the oppo­sition party and Governor Oluseg­un Mimiko of causing the defeat.

Kashamu, in a statement he issued on Sunday, said: “We told Governor Mimiko that after eight years, the good people of Ondo State would resist the injustice of producing a successor from the same senatorial district where he hails from. It is not that Mr. Eyi­tayo Jegede (SAN) is not a good material. He is urbane, intelligent and smart. He would have prob­ably won had he come from any other senatorial zone than Mim­iko’s.

“We told Mimiko that the people would not take anything that would look like a third term for him and his senatorial district. He would not listen. Ever slippery and sly, Governor Mimiko turned deaf ears to wise counsel, just like he turned his back on all those who helped him to power.

“Despite being the Chairman of the PDP Governors Forum, Governor Mimiko turned him­self into Fayose’s puppet, allowing Fayose to lead him by the nose,” he said.

Also, yesterday, Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose lament­ed the outcome of the governor­ship election, saying that INEC connived with APC and its col­laborators in the PDP to rig the election before it was conducted.

He said: “Just as I would have loved to congratulate the winner, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN), be­cause in every contest, there must be a winner and a loser, the role of INEC in awarding victory to him in the election left much to be desired.”

In a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Public Com­munications and New Media, Lere Olayina, the governor said that INEC gave the APC victo­ry in the election by deliberately replacing the name of Jegede, the PDP candidate, thereby creating a legal logjam that lasted till three days to the election.

The Governor of Imo State and Chairman of the Progres­sives Governors’ Forum, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, has said that the emergence of Akeredolu as governor-elect of Ondo has con­firmed the popularity of APC in the South West and the love the people of the zone have for Presi­dent Buhari.

In a statement issued by his spokesperson, Sam Onwuemo­do on Sunday in Owerri, Okoro­cha said that, the wide margin be­tween Akeredolu and his closest rival has shown that Nigerians understand the issues that have fuelled the current recession, say­ing those who predicted the failure of the APC citing recession have been disappointed.

“The people of Ondo State have spoken with their votes and they spoke well. Their decision to be part of the APC government at the centre is commendable. With their votes, they have passed a vote of confidence on APC and Pres­ident Buhari. They will never be disappointed in the APC govern­ment in the state,” he added.