Aregbesola faults INEC over Osun re-run polls

Citing a Federal Court ruling, INEC had last Friday announced its plan to hold the elections.

But speaking with reporters at the weekend in Ilesa, Osun State, Aregbesola faulted the electoral commission, saying the elections could not go on because a court order restraining INEC from conducting the election subsisted.

Aregbesola was in Ilesa, his hometown, for the Iwude Festival, which attracted sons and daughters of Ijesaland, including the state Deputy Governor, Erelu Olusola Obada, who led government functionaries to the cultural event.

The AC candidate therefore, asked members of his political party and supporters to disregard the announcement by INEC that the re-run elections to fill the vacant senatorial seat hitherto occupied by Senator Iyiola Omisore and the Osogbo Constituency seat of the AC lawmaker, Adegboye Akintunde, would hold as planned.

According to Aregbesola, the election would not hold because the court is yet to vacate its earlier order, adding that doing so by INEC would amount to an act of illegality.

The AC governorship candidate, who said that he was committed to pursuing his case before the State Election Petitions Tribunal to a logical conclusion, stressed that he was not tired of ensuring that justice was done on the disputed gubernatorial election.

He said the love and support showed him by people of the state during and after the election spurred him to continue with the case, pointing out that he had confidence in the nation’s judiciary to do justice on the matter.

Aregbesola said: “It will be betrayer if I decided to disappoint the people of the state at this crucial stage. The least I can do is to stand by them in the struggle. It is the celebration of commitment of the people of the state, their steadfastness, patriotism and love towards the struggle.

“The pursuance of the case till this stage is not for personal gains. We decided to pursue this political process because we believe that through this, we can improve the general standard of the people of the state.

“The legal process we are pursuing is not against any particular individual. It is our duty to challenge the robbery of the mandate of the people, to correct it and put an end to such practices and ensure the establishment of the culture of transparency, accountability and honesty.”