The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has won the
chairmanship election in all the 18 local councils of
Ondo State.
The elections, held on Saturday, witnessed a low
turnout of voters. The ruling PDP also won 202 of
the 203 councillorship seats across the councils,
leaving one for ACPN.
While announcing the results on Sunday in Akure,
the chairman of the Ondo Independent Electoral
Commission, Olugbenga Ige, refused to name the
total number of registered voters and those
accredited for the election.
Mr. Ige, described the poll as “free, fair and credible
and attributed the success recorded by the
commission to the cooperation and support given it
by all stakeholders in the last three months.
He thanked all the political parties that participated
in elections for playing the game by the rules,
saying this allowed the commission to succeed in its
task.
But the All Progressives Congress, which led a host
of other parties to boycott the election, described the
outcome of the elections won by the “unpopular
Peoples Democratic Party” as a vindication of its
position that the election was a mere selection
process.
“The PDP is the only party that fielded candidates in
the election and contested against itself,” the party
said in a statement signed by its Director of
Publicity, Steve Otaloro.
“The party also used deceptive manners to field
their party members for some mushroom parties
that do not exist in the state.
“Even when it was evident the election is no contest
one, they still rigged in huge figures to create the
impression of impressive turnout.
“All the names of the chairmen in the eighteen local
government councils along with their councillors
had been written down and handed over to the
Ondo State Independent Electoral Commission,
(ODIEC) Chairman, Prof. Olugbenga Ige, before the
election for eventual announcement after the polls,”
the opposition party stated.
The APC said Ondo State voters’ apathy towards the
exercise was obvious in the extremely low turnout
of voters across the state.
“In some areas for instance, it was observed that
some communities refused to turn out to vote
because of several complaints they have against the
PDP-led government that culminated in the refusal
of the government to intervene in the total darkness
that has enveloped their areas for many years,” it
said.
“We are glad to see that our (APC) numerous calls
for the people to shun
the election resonated well
with them.
“This local government election in Ondo State has
turned out to be a charade and a mockery of our
democracy where millions of tax payers money was
wasted.
“We would however like to reiterate our position to
use all legal means to challenge this illegality as
perpetuated by the outgoing governor of Ondo State,
Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, and that at the appropriate
time we shall right the wrong done to the people of
Ondo State by committing these present sets of
selected chairmen and councillors to appropriation
and also conduct a free, fair and credible local
government election in the state when the
progressives government takes over the rein of
leadership in the state next year.”
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