Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa says his victory in the just-ended governorship poll is a call to deliver more for the people of Ondo State.
Aiyedatiwa won the Ondo governor election which was concluded on Sunday, beating the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s Ajayi Agboola in the largely peaceful exercise.
The Returning Officer for the election Prof. Olayemi Akinwumi, who is also the Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University, Lokoja, Kogi State had declared Aiyedatiwa of the All Progressives Congress (APC) the winner of the election on Sunday, extending the governor’s stay at the Government House in Alagbaka, Akure.
Aiyedatiwa, the incumbent governor of the Sunshine State polled 366,781 votes to defeat his closest rival and a former deputy governor of the state Ajayi Agboola who flew the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) flag. He scored 117,845 votes, more than twice lower than the APC candidate.
“That Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa of the APC having satisfied the requirement of the law is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected,” the returning officer said at exactly 2:30 pm at the INEC collation centre in Akure.
The declaration came hours after the collation of results for the election began in the early hours of Sunday. Although the collation centre went on breaks, the APC took a commanding lead with over 200,000 votes ahead of the PDP.
The final results showed that the APC won the election in a landslide, clearing all 18 local government areas.
Speaking to reporters after he was declared as the winner of the poll, the Ondo governor promised better days for residents of the South-West state.
According to him, having visited every part of the state during campaigns, he is more in tune with the needs of the people.
“The people should expect better service. And that’s what they’ve been looking forward to because I campaigned across the entire local government,” he said.
“The only candidate that went through the entire local government, not just the capital city of the local government, all communities. In almost all the communities we visited, we saw the roads and the way they look like, the environment they are living in, we heard their voices, we read their messages and we listened and responded to questions and their yearnings and aspirations.
“So, they have that belief that their hope is in me. They believe that whatever we say is what we will do. We will not tell them what we cannot do. We will do all that we have promised within the limited resources available to us.”
Aiyedatiwa’s Ascension To Power
Having been declared the winner of the election, Aiyedatiwa is set to extend his stay at the helm of affairs in the oil-rich state. He – a former deputy governor – ascended to power on December 27th, 2023 after Governor Rotimi Akeredolu’s death.
Akeredolu died on the same day after a lengthy battle with illness and had before his demise transmitted power to Aiyedatiwa.
He thereafter won the APC’s ticket for the 2024 governorship election in Ondo, pitting him against 17 other candidates including Agboola who was also a former deputy to Akeredolu during his first term in office.
Aiyedatiwa faced stiff competition from Agboola in the leadup to the election but in his campaigns, he promised a better economy and welfare package for workers across the state. The governor pointed to his signing of N73,000 as minimum wage – higher than the N70,000 earmarked by the Federal Government – as a testament to this.
PDP Alleges Compromise
Voting on election day began early with INEC officials arriving at the polling units at dawn. The exercise was largely peaceful with little or known cases of violence.
Governor Aiyedatiwa after casting his vote expressed confidence about his victory, hinging his hopes on the good “works” of his government.
“I believe I’m in an advantaged position to win this election because of the work that I have done in the last 10 months since I assumed office as the governor of the state,” he said.
“We traversed the entire 18 local governments; and visited communities all across.”
But the PDP candidate has accused INEC of compromising the election. He accused the electoral body of deliberating slowing the process – a ploy to rig the poll.
“The system is compromised and I have had a series of calls today. People are complaining about vote buying and the BVAS is not working,” he said on Saturday after voting.
“It is a very shameful exercise and I think Nigerians should just call on the chairman of the electoral commission Prof Mahmood Yakubu. If you cannot do the job, please just honourably resign. He should resign. This is embarrassing. It [election] is totally compromised.”
Observers Decry Vote-Buying
Though the election went on smoothly, observers believe it was marred by vote-buying across the state. They said the trend went on “openly and unchecked”.
“Situation Room notes the trend of persistent vote trading during elections in Nigeria,” the Situation Room said in its assessment of the poll.
“This situation has continued unabatedly, and heightened in this election. It is worrying that, despite the high presence of security personnel at the polling units, vote trading went on openly and unchecked during the voting hours.”
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