Oluwole Oke, the Director-General of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship campaign in Osun State, has stated that the party will not be pressed to congratulate Governor Ademola Adeleke on his victory in the August 15 governorship election.
Oke noted in an interview with Arise News on Monday that the APC was analyzing the election results and will decide its future steps after checking the records.
He stated President Bola Tinubu’s viewpoint, which praised Adeleke after the Independent National Electoral Commission declared the results, differed with that of the party’s campaign staff, which was “on the ground” and judging the process.
“And like I’ve told you, what we are doing, even for the future, for records, is to conduct a thorough review of the entire process and then form our opinion.
“We won’t be under any sort of pressure to easily reach out to congratulate Senator Ademola Adeleke,” Oke said.
He added, “We do not agree with the declaration of INEC. That’s our position for now. We believe he did not score the highest valid votes.”
INEC announced Adeleke, the Accord candidate, the victor of the election after he polled 511,067 votes, defeating the APC candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, who received 444,815. ADC candidate Najeem Salaam finished third with 17,180 votes.
Adeleke won 19 local government areas, while Oyebamiji won 11, giving the incumbent a 66,252 vote lead.
After the declaration, Adeleke stated that he anticipated Oyebamiji calling and congratulating him, calling it the “civilized thing to do.”
However, Oke stated that the APC campaign staff was more concerned with reviewing the electoral process before making any decisions.
“When you have a project of this nature with the outcome announced by INEC, we will not be in a hurry, nor shall we be under pressure without doing the needful,” he said.
According to him, the APC had commenced an audit of the election and directed its agents to submit relevant result sheets for scrutiny.
“We have embarked on an audit process. We have asked all our party agents to submit copies of Forms EC8A, B, and C to our secretariat for review. We need to inspect the materials,” Oke said.
Meanwhile, the APC’s Director of Media and Information, Kola Olabisi, said the APC was still studying the results from all 332 wards.
The party said an election was “a process that continues through the tribunal, Court of Appeal, and Supreme Court,” adding that it would consult its lawyers and explore all legal options available under the Electoral Act if irregularities were discovered.
Oke stated that the party would also examine issues arising from the pre-election period and the conduct of the election against provisions of the Electoral Act and other relevant laws.
“Until we do that and form our opinion, we won’t be able to go further to say anything on this,” he said.
The APC campaign director also chastised the Adeleke administration, challenging its record on education, healthcare, and support for farmers in the state.
He said, “When you look at this in totality, you can see the failures of government glaring in the citizens’ faces.”
Oke advised the people to give the party time to conduct its assessment of the election before announcing its next steps.
