Osun rerun show of shame, says Fayose

• ‘Buhari, APC Have Killed Democracy In Nigeria’

Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose, yesterday, described the Osun State governorship re-run election last Thursday as a show of shame. Fayose also alleged that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari and his ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) have killed democracy in Nigeria with the outcome of what he described as “electoral fraud” in Osun State.

The governor, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Idowu Adelusi, decried the conduct of the poll as well as its outcome, alleging that it was a perversion of the will of the people and a rape of democracy.

Reacting to the declaration of APC’s Gboyega Oyetola as the winner of the September 27 re-run poll by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Fayose said Nigeria has now become a laughing stock before the international community.

“With the show of shame that happened in last Saturday’s Osun State governorship election in general and Thursday’s re-run in particular, there is no other conclusion to draw than that democracy is now dead in our beloved country,” adding that by its actions, the APC has killed democracy with alleged rigging machinery deployed in Ekiti State on July 14 and Osun on September 22 and 27, respectively.

Fayose stated: “With what happened in Osun state, democracy is actually dead in Nigeria and we are in critical times. The Osun supplementary election was just a repeat of what happened in Ekiti State on July 14. And it is unfortunate that, again, the will of the people has been perverted.’

“It was obvious even to the blind that the Osun election, as was the case with Ekiti, was a contest between the PDP and the security agencies, supervised by a compromised INEC.” The governor alleged that the university professors used as returning officers by INEC have, ab initio, been allegedly compromised and only serve the interest of those he described as their paymasters, adding: “Therefore, we want to believe that the survival of Nigerians and the survival of this country as a whole are at the mercy of God and of the judiciary.

“And if the judiciary fails to rise up to the occasion, Nigerians will be among men the most miserable.”Reviewing previous elections, Fayose said the ruling APC has perfected various forms of what he called “rigging plans, beginning with Edo, going forward to Ondo and Ekiti and now Osun state,” but commended Senator Ademola Adeleke for having fought a good fight, as “you did not lose, but your mandate has only been stolen.”

Fayose, who condemned the violence that attended the election, sympathised with the families of those killed and enjoined PDP members to refrain from taking the law into their own hands, assuring: “Help will come soon.”