The All Progressives Congress (APC) has rejected the declaration of Ademola Adeleke as the winner of the Osun State governorship election, saying its preliminary assessment indicated that he did not secure the highest number of valid votes cast.
Naija News reports that the Director-General of the APC Governorship Campaign Council in the state, Oluwole Oke, disclosed this while commenting on the outcome of the election, on Arise TV, on Monday night.
Oke said the party had commenced a comprehensive audit of the poll and directed its agents across the state to submit copies of Forms EC8A, EC8B and EC8C for scrutiny.
He explained that the APC would examine the electoral records and inspect relevant materials before deciding on its next course of action.
“We do not agree with the declaration of INEC. That’s our position for now. We believe he did not score the highest valid votes,” Oke said.
The campaign director-general said the party would not rush into taking further action until it had reviewed records from the election and established the facts surrounding the result declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
According to him, the exercise requires a careful examination of documents from polling units, wards and local government collation centres.
He further stated, “When you have a project of this nature with the outcome announced by INEC, we will not be in a haste, nor shall we be under pressure without doing the needful.
“The needful that we need to do is to evaluate the process, get all the records, review the process, and then form an opinion.
“We have embarked on an audit process. We have asked all our party agents to submit copies of Forms EC8A, B, and C to our secretariat for review. We need to inspect the materials.”
Oke said the findings from the exercise would determine the party’s position, which would subsequently be made public.
The APC chieftain also disclosed that the party was examining issues that preceded the election, suggesting that its review would go beyond the votes cast on election day.
He said the party would assess the conduct of the poll against the provisions of the Electoral Act and other relevant laws before determining whether further action was necessary.
Oke further stated, “There are a lot of issues before us. There are a lot of issues for determination, even on a pre-election basis.
“Even for the election itself, I’ve just told you that even if it’s just for the records and the future, we are determined to look at all the records, look at the processes put in place by the Electoral Act and relevant statutes.
“Until we do that and form our opinion, we won’t be able to go further to say anything on this.”
APC Speaks On Division Among Members
Oke also dismissed suggestions that internal disagreements within the APC contributed significantly to the party’s performance in the election.
He argued that disagreements were common within political parties and did not necessarily prevent members from closing ranks during elections.
The APC campaign chief cited divisions within the Accord Party, claiming that its chairman publicly endorsed the APC candidate despite internal disagreements.
Oke added, “If you are talking about internal divisions, even the Accord Party itself is divided. The chairman of the Accord Party endorsed our candidate openly in public.
“Within a political party, disputes and misunderstandings are bound, but the fact remains that the party comes together at the polls to ensure victory.
“It’s not new in a political party to have divisions. Clearly, even the Accord Party themselves went to court over who is the rightful candidate of the party at the poll.”
The APC said it would make its final position on the governorship election known after completing its review of the results and other electoral materials.
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