August 5, (THEWILL) – The Osun State Chapter of the All Progressive Congress (APC), says it has concluded plans to drag the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate in the just concluded election, Senator Ademola Adeleke, to the Elections Petition Tribunal, over the outcome of the election.
Addressing a news conference on Thursday, at the party secretariat in Osogbo, the State Chairman of APC, Gboyega Famodun, said the decision to challenge the results of the July 16 Governorship election at the tribunal, follows assurances by the party’s lawyers.
Famodun also accused a parallel faction of the APC of working with Rauf Aregbesola, minister of interior, in favour of the opposition.
Famodun in his address said, “We are going to the tribunal. Our lawyers had informed us that we have good reasons to challenge the results of the election at the tribunal.
“The recent protest by the group, calling for the removal of the party’s chairman and the restructuring of the party after they openly supported the PDP candidate, senator Ademola Adeleke, during the governorship election was shameful and wicked.
“Our position is that the protest was shameful, callous, primitive, selfish, wicked, misplaced, and inconsiderate for the Aregbesola supporters, who glaringly worked against the success of governor Oyetola at the polls, to now be canvassing restructuring of the party through a sponsored protest.
“Assuming without conceding that there are challenges within the party, the protesters and their patrons should know that they lack the moral right to either suggest or effect any likely solution for the restructuring of our party, as it is on record that they massively and collectively worked against Oyetola.
“Since members of the factional group, the TOP people, had done their worst by working assiduously and conscientiously by teaming up with the PDP for the success of Adeleke, which is the highest level of an anti-party activity that can be committed by any politician, it will be a needless venture to enter into any pact with the group that is bereft of honour.”
THEWILL recalls that on July 17, Senator Ademola Adeleke, the gubernatorial candidate of PDP, was declared winner of the keenly contested Osun State governorship election with a total of 403,371 votes, to beat his closest challenger, the APC candidate, Governor Oyetola, who polled 375,027 votes.
In the build-up to this election, Governor Oyetola and Aregbesola fell out over the control of the APC in Osun state. The minister was also absent during the party’s campaign in the state and did not vote in the election.
Some political analysts have attributed the defeat of APC in the election to the feud between the two leaders and the inability of the party hierarchy to settle the dispute.
The Governor-elect of Osun State, Senator Ademola Adeleke, had on July 19, admitted that some associates of Aregbesola and other APC Chieftains supported him during the election
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