The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in the March 18 election in Ogun State, Ladi Adebutu, has rained curses on those who allegedly manipulated the results of the election.
Adebutu also vowed to use all the legal means to reclaim his “stolen mandate.”
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Governor Dapo Abiodun of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the election, having polled a total of 276,298 votes, while Adebutu scored 262,383 votes. The governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Biyi Otegbeye garnered 94,754 votes.
But Adebutu rejected the results and vowed to explore all legal means available to challenge the victory of Abiodun.
Addressing members of the party in a meeting in Abeokuta, the state capital, Adebutu in a veiled reference accused the state Returning Officer Kayode Adebowale of subverting the will of the people by declaring Abiodun as the winner of the election.
Adebutu said the governorship election was the worst in the history of the country’s democracy.
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He, however, absolved the INEC of wrongdoing, saying the commission remains an institution that must be protected by Nigerians.
Instead, Adebutu rained curses on those he labelled bad eggs, saying God would punish them appropriately.
He said, “We are not blaming the INEC. INEC is our institution and we must protect it. But for those bad eggs, God will punish them appropriately.
“What I saw in the elections is politics of intimidation, politics of harassment, and politics of subversion. This was the first time in the history of our democracy where people were harassed, intimidated and threatened not to come out to vote.
“A lot of injustice have been done, I feel very aggrieved because we see a lot of inconsistencies. We are law abiding before they (INEC) made that declaration we informed them, we petitioned them to show that that declaration was willful.
“We recognized that everything that happened in this election, we must contest it, because it was subversion of our democracy. If we fail to contest the outcome of the election, we are killing this nation.
“Subversion of our democracy, 42,000 people have been disenfranchised. And when they disenfranchised 42,000, they now said they are leading by 13,000 votes, so those 42,000 don’t need to vote.
“Whereas the same thing happened in Kebbi and Adamawa, but it’s okay, that rule only applies in Kebbi and Adamawa, it does not apply to Ogun state because a declaration already exist. Don’t blame INEC, it is not INEC’s fault, it is the declaration the man (REC) from Ibadan has done, but I believe at the tribunal it will be corrected.”