Adeleke kudos e-transmission for helping to reclaim stolen mandate
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
“With the Electoral Act now, the result was just flowing in without hindrance.”
Ademola Adeleke has credited electronic transmission of vote results in the Electoral Act 2022 with his smashing up of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Osun governorship ballot last Saturday to reclaim his mandate stolen in 2018.
He said he would have lost to Governor Gboyega Oyetola if President Muhammadu Buhari had not signed the amended Electoral Act into law which replaced manual transmission of results from the polling unit with e-transmission.
“I feel good on my victory because the people of Osun State have been yearning for their stolen mandate. To be the second Adeleke that would govern Osun is not common. It is only God that can do that,” Adeleke said on Channels Television.
“God smiled on me and our family. Also, when I saw President [Muhammadu] Buhari’s congratulatory message, I said this is good for our country.
“I am planning to visit him when I receive my certificate of return. Most of the time, the opposition don’t congratulate one another.
“So, Buhari is trying to leave a legacy. If he had not signed the Electoral Act, there would have been room for rigging because they did that to me in 2018.
“But with the Electoral Act now, the result was just flowing in without hindrance.”
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Hard campaign
Asked if Governor Gboyega Oyetola had reached out to him, he said: “I am still waiting to hear from him. A lot of people offended me, but I am not God, my hands are wide open to receive everybody to move Osun State forward.
“I campaigned so hard that the economy is so bad, the roads are bad, the state capital needs to be given a facelift, and that I can do better.”
According to reporting by Vanguard, Adeleke cried while dedicating his victory to his late elder brother who was Ogun Governor between 1992 and 1993.
Asked if he knew he was going to win with such a margin, he said: “I was even expecting more than what I got. I studied Osun people and I know what they want. From the time I have been contesting since 2017 I have had a landslide victory.”
Adeleke, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), won 403,371 votes and carried 17 of the 30 councils to beat Oyetola of the APC who got 375,027 votes and carried 13 councils.
Adeleke won by 28,344 votes.
Observers say election result credible
Election observers described the result as fair and credible.
Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) Chairman Auwal Rafsanjani commended the performance and improvement of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in conducting the vote.
He said in a statement that INEC complied with the Electoral Act, particularly regarding inclusiveness, as persons living with disability were given assistance in terms of technology deployed to enable them exercise their franchise.
He added that the INEC displayed efficient logistics which enabled prompt and early deployment of its officials and materials to all polling units.
Yiaga Africa Chairman Hussain Abdu said the result announced by the INEC was consistent with the group’s Watching the Votes (WTV) estimated range.
If official results had been changed at the ward, council or state collation centres, he stressed, the final count would have been outside Yiaga Africa WTV estimated ranges.
“Because the official results fall within the estimated ranges, candidates, parties, and voters should have confidence that the official results for the Osun 2022 gubernatorial election reflect the ballots cast at polling units on Saturday, July 16, 2022.
“It is important to highlight that the counting process at polling units was transparent and included representatives from the four political parties that received the most votes,” Abdu said.
