From Toluwa Agboluaje, Ibadan
The Governor of Oyo State, Engineer Seyi Makinde, has declared that the mandate of the people of Oyo State given to him through the March 9, 2019, remains intact following the ruling of the Court of Appeal in Ibadan on Monday.
Governor Makinde, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, declared that the mandate given to him by the people of Oyo State cannot be taken through the backdoor.
The statement read: “There is no ambiguity as to the state of things in our Pacesetter State as far as the election of March 9, 2019, is concerned. Our party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won the election.
The Election Petitions Tribunal, sitting in Ibadan, the state capital, affirmed the victory.
“On Monday, the Court of Appeal, also sitting in Ibadan, delivered its judgement on the appeal by the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adebayo Adelabu.
“In its ruling, the Appeal Court refused to grant any of the three key reliefs sought by the APC candidate.
“The Court refused to nullify the election; it refused to order a fresh election and it also refused to order the retrial of the petition.
“With the above being the reality of the outcome of the Appeal Court ruling, the election of Engineer Seyi Makinde as the Governor of Oyo State has just been reaffirmed.
“There is nothing in the Appeal Court’s ruling that affects the returns made by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and there is nothing that tampers with the mandate freely given to Engineer Seyi Makinde by the people of Oyo State.”
The statement added: “Governor Makinde hereby urges the good people of Oyo State to remain calm and refuse to be provoked by agents of disruption who are seeking to upturn the truth, which remains constant against all odds.
“We also wish to enjoin the people of Oyo State to ignore the doctored reports in some media outlets, which are merely quoting the judgement of the Court of Appeal out of context.
“With a clear margin of Makinde’s 515,621 votes to Adelabu’s 357,982 votes, the preference of the people of Oyo State is as clear as day and night.”
In Its reaction the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the state said the appellate court’s ruling has reaffirmed its strong belief in the Judiciary being the pillar of hope for the sustenance of democracy.
The Court of Appeal found that the Judgement of the lower Tribunal which dismissed the petition of the APC’s gubernatorial candidate, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, challenging the election of Engr. Oluseyi Makinde, of the Peoples Democratic Party, as the Governor of Oyo State in the election held on 9th March 2019, was perverse and therefore set the Judgement aside, it said.
While reacting to the development through a statement issued by its Assistant Publicity Secretary, Prince Ayobami Adejumo, Oyo APC lauded the Appellate Court’s Judges for their pronouncement which validated the claims of the plaintiffs in the matter before it but “regretted that the good people of the state would still have to wait for the final adjudication on the case before our candidate could reclaim his mandate.
“The verdict given on Monday was unambiguous, apt and sound enough to convince any informed mind about the genuineness of our claim that Makinde’s declaration as the winner of the March 9 poll was done by INEC in error. The results announced were ridiculously inflated and there is no way such conspiracy could stand the test of proper scrutiny as this was just confirmed by the Appellate Court.
“Obviously, the next line of action is for us as a Party and our governorship hopeful to approach the Supreme Court for perfection of the landmark verdict delivered by the Court of Appeal and, by the special Grace of God, we shall obtain favourable judgment from the Apex Court as only this would lend credence to the fact Nigeria’s democratic practice is premised on free and fair elections as well as the rule of law.” APC added.
