Osun poll: APC won’t rush to congratulate Adeleke – Campaign DG

The Director-General of the All Progressives Congress governorship campaign in Osun State, Oluwole Oke, has said the party will not be pressured into congratulating Governor Ademola Adeleke over his victory in the August 15 governorship election.

Oke stated this in an interview with Arise News on Monday, saying the APC was reviewing the election results and would determine its next step after examining the records.

He said the position of President Bola Tinubu, who had congratulated Adeleke following the declaration of the result by the Independent National Electoral Commission, was different from that of the party’s campaign team, which was “on the ground” and assessing the process.

“And like I’ve told you that what we are doing, even for future, for records, is to conduct a thorough review of the entire process and then form our opinion.

We won’t be under any sort of pressure to easily reach out to congratulate Senator Ademola Adeleke,” Oke said.

He added, “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.”

INEC declared Adeleke, the Accord candidate, winner of the election after he polled 511,067 votes to defeat the APC candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, who scored 444,815 votes. ADC candidate Najeem Salaam came third with 17,180 votes.

Adeleke won in 19 local government areas, while Oyebamiji secured 11, giving the incumbent a winning margin of 66,252 votes.

Following the declaration, Adeleke said he expected Oyebamiji to call and congratulate him, describing it as the “civilised thing to do.”

However, Oke said the APC campaign team was more concerned with reviewing the electoral process before making any decision.

“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,” he said.

According to him, the party had commenced an audit of the election and directed its agents to submit relevant result sheets for scrutiny.

“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.

Meanwhile, the party’s Director of Media and Information, Kola Olabisi, said the APC was still studying the results from all 332 wards.

The party said an election was “a process that continues through the tribunal, Court of Appeal, and Supreme Court,” adding that it would consult its lawyers and explore all legal options available under the Electoral Act if irregularities were discovered.

Oke said the party would also examine issues arising from the pre-election period and the conduct of the election against provisions of the Electoral Act and other relevant laws.

“Until we do that and form our opinion, we won’t be able to go further to say anything on this,” he said.

The APC campaign DG also criticised the Adeleke administration, questioning its record in education, healthcare and support for farmers in the state.

He said, “When you look at this in totality, you can see the failures of government glaring in the citizens’ faces.”

Oke urged the public to give the party time to complete its assessment of the election before it announces its next course of action.