The Social Democratic Party in Ekiti state has said the Kayode Fayemi-led government deliberately impoverished the citizenry to make it difficult for them to resist the N10,000 offered each voter by the APC to sell their votes during the governorship election last Saturday.
In a statement on Tuesday by Ambassador Dare Bejide, the Director General of Segun Oni Campaign organization, the SDP said the victory of APC’s candidate, Abiodun Oyebanji was ‘obtained by bare-faced brigandage and shameless electoral heist.’
The Independent National Electoral Commission on Sunday morning declared the All Progressives Congress candidate, Biodun Oyebanji, winner of the election and governor-elect having scored the highest number of votes and met the requirements of law.
Oyebanji beat his closest rival, Segun Oni of the SDP to a distant second with a wild margin.
Segun Oni’s camp which rejected the result outright, had threatened to approach the court to challenge the outcome of the election.
But the party in its statement on Tuesday reiterated its stance rejecting the result but silent on seeking any legal step for redress.
The statement which is titled, ‘Now that Ekiti State has been kidnapped,’ read in full, “We thank the thousands of our citizens, who despite harassments and intimidation, trooped out on Saturday June 18, 2022, to perform the patriotic duty of electing the next Governor of our beloved Ekiti State. We thank you for your love for our candidate, His Excellency, Engineer Olusegun Oni, who had served you faithfully, fearlessly, fairly and competently in the past and who is ready, willing, able and competent to continue to serve you. You have demonstrated, despite the odds against the tenets of democracy and the Rule of Law, that you have confidence in the capacity of Engineer Oni to lead Ekiti Stateagain. For this, we salute you.
It is now an obvious fact that the election is done and gone and the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Mr. Abiodun Oyebanji, has been proclaimed the Governor-elect by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. Mr. Oyebanji’s victory has been obtained by bare-faced brigandage and shameless electoral heist.
“Mr. Oyebanji is part of the APC elites in Ekiti State that have reduced our people through mis-governance, into abject poverty and deprivation. The party, under the leadership of Governor Kayode Fayemi, has turned the entire state into a personal fiefdom of the Governor. In less than four years, the citizens are poorer than they have ever been. No wonder, this appears to be a deliberate policy so that in their state of impoverishment, the people would not be able to resist the regime of oppression and repression. This became nakedly manifest during the June 18 governorship election.
During that election, the government could not trust on its own record of governance, but it was banking on its programme of increasing poverty that has turned our people into chattels. It was therefore easy for the APC and its agents to pay a minimum of N10,000.00 for each voter. This is a blatant assault on the citadel of democracy and the Rule of Law. This is a direct violation of the Electoral Act.
“This is a serious sabotage of the democratic process which expects a free contract between the electorate and the elected public officials.
Now that the APC has devised its devilish way to undermine the electoral process, it has violated the most sacred essence of democracy. The cost of poverty on our electoral process is huge and it could destroy our democracy in the name of vote-buying, except good and godly people of Nigeria act urgently to address it. Sadly, vote-buying has become a terrible instrument for political enslavement of the people and it is being exploited to undermine good governance and the future of our society.
“A situation where our people have been reduced to commodities to be bought and sold for pittance is not acceptable to us. The ruling APC gang in Ekiti State has just kidnapped our state under the guise of a democratic election. They have used our money to buy our people and they want to hold us to ransom for another four years. The law of Nigeria does not permit hostage taking on this grand scale. Indeed, mass-kidnapping is frowned upon under international law. Ekiti people are now held hostage by greedy elite that would do anything to remain in power.
“We appeal to all good people in Nigeria and all over the world to stand with Ekiti people to resist this blatant hostage taking. Our democracy is in peril if the people’s right to vote is subverted by
those who are ready to pay any price to hold the reign of power.
Nigeria must not be held hostage to the whims of a rapacious elite.
It is Ekiti today; it can be any other state tomorrow. Let us say no to vote-buying! Let us stand up and defend democracy and the right of the people to elect their rulers periodically through a free and fair election.
“The Ekiti State governorship election of June 18, 2022, was neither free nor fair. We reject the declared result. Thank you.”
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