Appeal Court ruling: Jegede urges restraint over panel’s decision

Mixed feelings have trailed the ruling of the three-man Court of Appeal Special Panel on the governorship candidature of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the November 26 election in Ondo State.

Party loyalists, who are supporters of the Ahmed Makarfi-led faction and Mr. Eyitayo Jegede, whose name was replaced with Ibrahim Jimoh by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), were awaiting the final verdict of the panel yesterday.

But Jegede, who remained unruffled by the decision of the panel to adjourn its judgment earlier scheduled for yesterday, called for calm among his teeming supporters in an effort to forestall any outbreak of untoward actions in the state.

Jegede, in a statement issued by the Head of Media and Publicity of his campaign organization, Kayode Fasua, said he was not unmindful of the fact that the temporary setback is the handiwork of some anti-democratic elements bent on truncating his mandate for the November 26 polls.

He, however, stated that as a true believer in the rule of law and judiciary, he would be at the Supreme Court on Tuesday to thrash out issues raised by the appellants.

The PDP candidate said the objective of the appellants was to stop a review of Justice Abang’s judgment through various baseless petitions, spurious blackmail and media propaganda, adding that the day of reckoning was near for those anti-democratic elements.

Jegede appealed to his supporters and believers in his course not take laws into their hands, but remain resolute and intensify their door-to-door campaigns, restating that he would contest and win the poll, saying: “I call on our supporters to remain calm, and not be weighed down by the latest developments, which I believe should only strengthen our resolve in ensuring that despite all contrivances and manipulations, we will contest and win the November 26 governorship election.”