Kayode Fayemi has become the governor of Ekiti State three years after he launched a legal challenge to the declaration of INEC that Segun Oni won the state's 2007 governorship election.
Mr Oni was relieved of his job by the federal appeals court ruling this afternoon in Ilorin that his opponent and Action Congress governorship candidate in the 2007 election, Fayemi was the rightful winner of the election..
The court, ruling on a legal challenge to a rerun election held in the state last year, cancelled the result of voting in Ido Osi and Ifaki, saying these were concocted. The 8000 votes were then deducted from the PDP result - thus handing over victory to the Action Congress candidate.
The judges lampooned INEC and Police's handlings of the 2007 and 2009 elections in the state.
PDP Accepts Judgement
The peoples Democratic Party in its reaction to the Appeal Court judgement called the ruling a ‘rude shock.’
In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Professor Rufus Ahmed Alkali, the
party said: “The Peoples Democratic Party has received with rude shock, the
judgement of the Appeal Court, Ilorin Division which nullified the election of
Governor Segun Oni , while declaring his Action Congress of Nigeria opponent as
Governor of Ekiti State.
“The Peoples Democratic Party is shocked
principally because Ekiti State is one of its strongholds. We flashback that at
the last year’s re-run governorship election, our great party reaffirmed our
superiority as well as popularity with the people of Ekiti State. Though
pyrrhic, the PDP decisively won the election. Our victory was subsequently
re-affirmed by the Ekiti State Governorship Election Tribunal who upheld the
re-election of Governor Oni.
“Sadly, the learned justices of the Appeal
Court, Ilorin Division thought otherwise. As a law abiding political Party with
firm belief in the rule of law, we accept this judgement.
“However, we
urge all our members in the State to remain strong and not be down spirited by
this new development as the PDP will surely take back Ekiti, the next
governorship election.
“We also charge them to continue to support the
PDP and the numerous reform programmes which the National Working Committee
under the leadership Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo has embarked upon,” the statement
added.
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