The governorship candidate of the Action Congress in Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, and his party on Wednesday formally rejected the declaration by the Independent National Electoral Commission of Mr. Segun Oni of the Peoples Democratic Party as the winner of the rerun governorship election.
They made their positions known at a joint press conference in Ado Ekiti addressed by the state Chairman of the party, Chief Jide Awe, and his Deputy, Chief Dele Falusi.
Fayemi spoke just as the AC national secretariat said that Tuesday was a sad day in the history of Nigeria.
Oni, however, took the oath of office at the state on Wednesday.
Apart from Fayemi; his wife, Bisi; his running mate, Mrs. Funmilayo Olayinka; a former Governor of the state, Chief Adeniyi Adebayo; and a former Governor of the old Ondo State, Mr. Bamidele Olumilua, were among the notable AC leaders at the briefing.
Before the press conference, aggrieved youths had taken over the Mobil area of Ado-Ekiti, where the AC and Fayemi‘s campaign office were located, staging a mass protest.
More than 100 riot policemen and soldiers backed by an Armoured Personnel Carrier were later drafted to the area to quell the protest.
Before the arrival of the law enforcement agents, the protesting youths had set bonfires on the busy Ado-Ekiti-Ikere Road, where they disrupted traffic for several hours.
The police team fired several shots into the air to disperse the surging crowd when the protesters rebuffed all entreaties to stop them from advancing into the town.
When the supporters failed to yield, the policemen fired several tear gas canisters which sent the protesters scampering in different directions, while those armed with kerosene washed their faces with the liquid to nutralise the effect of tear gas.
The soldiers, who did not join the police in dispersing the crowd, positioned themselves strategically around the AC secretariat, while others were stationed at the gate of state water corporation’s dam.
The police also made spirited efforts to put out the fire and cleared the road of the debris to pave the way for free flow of traffic.
While the rage lasted, the protesters sang anti-government songs and rained curses on those they perceived as the masterminds of the alleged manipulation of the election.
Some of the placards read, “INEC, you have betrayed the people of Ekiti State;” “Let the vote of the people count;” “Fayemi is the winner of the election, not Oni;” and “Fayemi, the people‘s governor.”
The youths later assembled at Fayemi’s campaign office where the AC leaders had converged for the press conference.
Addressing journalists, the AC chairman described Tuesday as a sad day for democracy when ”the hope and aspiration of Nigerians and Ekiti people in particular were dashed by INEC.”
Awe, who heaped the blame on the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mrs. Ayoka Adebayo, said that the ”fake result” from Ido-Osi with which the PDP candidate was declared the winner would not stand the test of time.
The AC chairman said that Adebayo owed the people an explanation about the intrigues that informed her resignation and the withdrawal of the letter, having stated that she was being pressured to act against her conscience and Christian faith.
He challenged the REC to name those that mounted pressures on her.
On the arrival of the REC in the state on Monday, Awe said that he went to submit a protest letter by his party to contest the result of Ido-Osi.
He said, ”It was clear to the deaf and the blind that Ido-Osi result was manipulated. It was not collated at the designated centre. No political party agent signed the result, especially those of Ifaki and Usi.
”Our agents were shot at the INEC office in Ido-Osi while resisting the stuffing of ballot boxes and the leg of one of them has been amputated. None of our agents was allowed to supervise election at Ifaki. Election observers were beaten.
“Such results are worthless and should have been cancelled. At Oye, Senator Ayo Arise boasted that he would return 15,000 votes in the desperation of the PDP to bridge the gap between us, but all the votes recorded were below 2,000.
“On getting to Ado-Ekiti, Mrs. Adebayo played the Pontious Pilate trick by directing the returning officers to announce the results.
“The statement by the woman that we can go to court was an insult on the integrity of Ekiti people. Results from other local governments were less than 9,000, where did she get the 15,000 from Ido-Osi?
”The AC rejects the result and we will explore all the possibilities of the law to fight the matter to a logical conclusion. Ekiti State will herald electoral sanctity to Nigeria.”
Fayemi also described the declaration of Oni as the winner of the election as a ”travesty of justice.”
He expressed the fear that the country‘s democracy might be heading for the rocks with the event that played out in the state over the rerun.
Fayemi said, ”A movement has started here today. Intimidation cannot stop this movement, harassment cannot stop this movement, show of force cannot stop us. The whole world is watching.
“We have expressed beyond any shadow of doubt that electoral fraud is the middle name of Prof. Maurice Iwu, INEC and the people associated with that body.
“We owe Nigeria a duty to make electoral reform a reality even if President Umaru Yar‘Adua is paying lip service to it.
”We will fight to liberate our people from this perfidy and fraud. They will make the state ungovernable in a non-violent manner for those who do not want peace in the land. We will explore all legitimate means of recovering what has been stolen.
“If what Mrs. Adebayo did was according to her conscience, good luck to her and God bless Nigeria.”
Addressing the exasperated youths after the press conference, Fayemi exuded confidence that he would ultimately be declared the validly elected governor of the state.
Challenging Oni to popularity contest, he dared him to ride in an open roof vehicle around the state capital and other parts of the state and see how people would receive him.
However, activities at the INEC office in Ado-Ekiti were paralysed on Wednesday as no official was on duty.
A riot policeman and soldiers guarding the place turned our correspondent back from the gate around 2.30pm with the message that ”there is nobody inside.”
Majority of civil servants also boycotted work while those in the senior cadre that reported for duty closed early.
Oni, who was inaugurated as the new chief executive officer of the state at 5.15pm by the Acting Chief Judge, Justice Silas Oyewole, however, said he harboured no bitterness against anyone or group.
He said the new administration was committed to the betterment of Ekiti citizens regardless of their political leanings.
It took the combination of party chieftains and security operatives to discourage the crowd of PDP supporters from booing the former Acting Governor, Mr. Tunji Egbetokun, who shortly after the event, reverted to his former position as Speaker of the House of Assembly.
Oni, who arrived at the hall around 4pm from Abuja where he had gone to collect his certificate of return from the INEC headquarters, was hailed by the crowd, which comprised two governors – Prince Oyinlola Olagunsoye (Osun) and Otunba Gbenga Daniel (Ogun).
The Acting Chief Judge had earlier inaugurated Oni‘s deputy, Dr. Sikiru Tai Lawal, at 5pm, before administering the oath of office and allegiance on Oni.
The governor, who described the event as the beginning of another chapter in the history of Ekiti, said the state was back on track.
He said, ”The journey to this historic day was windy, torturous, stressful and laced with staggering hiccups, but full of worthy lessons. The Almighty God has stemmed the tide. By His grace, the storm is now still.”
Oni said that the administration has spared no single moment in its quest to take the state to greater heights.
He said, ”Our priority would be to continue with greater zeal the pace of rapid development that characterised those 21 months we had the rare opportunity to situate the state on the path of sanity, stability and good, civilised governance.
“The months ahead would witness accelerated momentum in the execution of programmes and policies targeted at improving all spheres and sectors that affect the totality of the well-being of our people.”