ABOUT two days after the Osun State governorship election, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Oyebamiji, has broken his silence, throwing his weight behind his party’s decision to review the outcome of the just-concluded poll.
News Point Nigeria reports that Oyebamiji, who lost to the incumbent Governor Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party in Saturday’s election, came second with 444,815 votes, while the candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Najeem Salaam, finished a distant third with 17,180 votes.
Days after the declaration of the result, the APC candidate said that while he respects the outcome, he fully supports his party’s ongoing review of the election.
“I totally support the decision of our party in its ongoing review of the outcome of the election,” Oyebamiji said.
“Consequently, I appreciate the many people who believed in and supported the alternative vision we articulated,” he added.
The APC candidate also appealed to his supporters to “remain calm and peaceful as you go about your daily activities in the post-election period.”
Oyebamiji, however, raised concerns over what he described as a growing “trend of hostility” against APC members and his supporters following the election.
“The violent attacks on our members witnessed in the build-up to the election have taken another dimension in the last 24 hours,” the former Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) wrote in a post on his X account on Tuesday morning.
“Consequently, I urge the Nigeria Police Force and other security agencies to intervene and arrest this ugly trend without delay,” he said.
In a message thanking members of the APC, residents of Osun State and his supporters for their “steadfastness, commitment, sacrifice, and tireless efforts” throughout the just-concluded governorship election, Oyebamiji said that although the election was over, “the values and causes we championed are alive.”
He said, “I commend you all for your steadfastness, commitment, sacrifice, and tireless efforts throughout the just-concluded governorship election. Your unwavering support for my candidacy and your commitment to the cause are deeply appreciated.”
According to him, the end of the election would not mark the end of the ideals and vision promoted by his campaign.
“We will continue to work for effective, inclusive, and rapid development of our dear Osun. I urge all of you who stood by our party and campaign to keep working for our community, to stay engaged, to continue to organise and to remain vigilant for the collective good of our state,” Oyebamiji said.
Fifteen political parties fielded candidates in the August 15 governorship election in the South-Western state.
At the end of the exercise, the Returning Officer for the election, Joshua Ogunwole, announced that Governor Adeleke polled 511,067 votes to emerge as the winner of the keenly contested poll.
“For that, Adeleke Ademola Jackson of the Accord Party, having satisfied the requirement of the law, is hereby declared the winner and is hereby returned elected,” Ogunwole said on Sunday while announcing the results at the INEC Collation Centre in Osogbo.
According to the Returning Officer, 1,005,800 votes were cast in the election, which was conducted across the 30 local government areas of Osun State, while 985,079 valid votes were recorded.
Ogunwole also said that 1,010,684 voters were accredited for the poll.
With the victory, Adeleke, who swept to power under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2022, will now serve a fresh four-year term as governor of Osun State.