Oyo PDP appeals Ajimobi’s victory
From YINKA FABOWALE and GBENGA ADESUYI, Ibadan.
Thursday, May 19, 2011


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Oyo State Governor, Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala and the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) did a volte-face on the just concluded governorship election in the state won by Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) candidate, Senator Ajibola Ajimobi. They appealed his victory.
The governor had in the wake of the electoral verdict congratulated Ajimobi, but in what appears a 360 degrees turn, Dotun Oyelade, special assistant to Alao-Akala on Public Communications, in a statement last night said the PDP had challenged Ajimobi’s election.

Details of the legal processes and the lawyers handling the case were not immediately available as phones calls made to Oyelade were unanswered but Daily Sun learnt that relevant papers were filed at the state election petition on Tuesday. Oyelade in the statement said although his boss congratulated Ajimobi over his victory at the April poll, he could not stop the party from going to court if it was so convinced to do so. The governor-elect, who contested under the banner of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), was declared winner of the election after polling a total votes of 420, 852 to beat Alao-Akala, the incumbent, to the second position with 387, 132 votes.

Accepting defeat in a letter he wrote to Ajimobi, Alao-Akala noted that all the hot verbal exchanges that characterized the campaign period were mere political statements and should not be taken personal by the winner. According to Oyelade, the party decided to challenge the victory because of the overwhelming evidence at its disposal to prove that the election was not as credible as it should be.

“While it is true that Governor Akala congratulated Senator Ajimobi after the April election and cited the need to reduce tension and actively support the growth of our fledgling democracy as his reason for his public remark, the issue must not be confused with the determination of the party to challenge his victory at the tribunal, which it has done yesterday.
“Governor Akala is not in a position to stop the decision of the party to contest the result in the face of more daunting evidences which it may have in its possession. It will be recalled that Senator Ajimobi and the ANPP, which he represented in 2007, both separately went to the tribunal at the time, which means that the law recognizes each as a legal entity.

“Governor Akala will support any move to strengthen our democracy and expand the frontiers of the rule of law,” the statement said.