Ondo Governorship: Tinubu Urges Aggrieved Candidates to Seek Justice in Court

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has urged dissatisfied candidates to seek legal redress while congratulating Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on winning the recently concluded Ondo State gubernatorial election.

In a statement issued by presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu hailed INEC for conducting a credible election and commended the maturity displayed by all 17 candidates and their parties during the campaigns and the election.

The President urges candidates dissatisfied with the outcome of the election to explore the opportunities provided by the judicial system to seek redress on areas of conflict, Onanuga noted.

Aiyedatiwa secured the win by polling 366,781 votes, defeating Ajayi Agboola of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who garnered 117,845 votes, as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Tinubu expressed satisfaction with INEC’s performance while praising the police and other security agencies for maintaining peace and order during the electoral process.

However, there were reports of vote buying and heavy militarisation across the state on election day. For instance, the Zenith Labour Party candidate, Abbas Mimiko, and the Deputy Governorship candidate of the PDP, Festus Akingbaso, accused the APC of indulging in voter inducement by giving cash.

In Idanre, Dr. Pius Akinyelure also alleged that APC not only bought votes but also allegedly orchestrated disruptions by deploying thugs into the area to disrupt voting.

In confirmation of some of the Vote Buying claims, there were reports that the DSS men arrested a male suspect at Ward 4, Polling Unit 007, beside St. Stephen’s Primary School in Akure, Ondo State, who was alleged to have two bags of money with which to influence the voters.

However, the APC Publicity Secretary in Ondo State, Mr. Steve Otaloro, denied that the party sent thugs to Ofosun in Idanre Local Government Area of the state to disrupt the governorship election.

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