Despite shortfalls, we won’t challenge election results, Ekiti LP says

The Labour Party (LP) in Ekiti State, on Thursday, said it will not challenge the result of last Saturday’s election declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in court, despite what it said were “noticeable shortfalls”.

The election was won by the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Kayode

Fayemi, but LP said it has no intention of challenging the winner in court.

Candidate of the party in the election and a former deputy governor of the state, Dr Sikiru Tae Lawal, who stated this on Thursday, noted that the electoral process fell short of international standard, saying there were “glaring cases of vote-buying and ballot snatching” which he said posed danger to Nigeria’s electoral process.

Dr Lawal said despite the alleged flaws, the party had accepted the outcome of the election in good faith.

He advised INEC and the National Assembly to take urgent steps to stop the menace of vote-buying syndrome, saying it was “fast gaining traction in the country.”

According to him, his party had “many evidential proofs of ballot snatching and other electoral malfeasance that dogged the election,” but said his party decided to drop the idea of heading to the tribunal as “a mark of respect to Ekiti citizens, who are desirous of good governance, which may be denied by the court action.”

He said: “That election didn’t meet international standard at all. There were

cases of open purchase of votes and negotiation over how much to pay, even in the presence of security agencies.

“In my ward at Oke Ese in Ado Ekiti, precisely ward 009, some party thugs aided by security agencies invaded that ward and destroyed all

the units they suspected were not in favour of APC. They even took a ballot box away and later returned it, that was how compromised the election was.

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“I  got calls from LP agents in many wards where they were either chased away from the polling units or prevented from monitoring the

collation process and sad enough, security agents and INEC officials kept mute.

“But whatever we do, we must think of Ekiti. Before I plunged into the race, I told Ekiti after emerging the consensus candidate of Labour

Party that that election was not a do-or-die.

“It is on this that I won’t challenge the outcome and promise to offer useful advice and make suggestions that would be of tremendous help to the success of the winner, Dr Kayode Fayemi as the governor of our dear state.”