The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for Idanre/Ifedore Federal Constituency, Bamidele Baderinwa (aka White) and Ondo South zenatorial candidate of the United Peoples Congress (UPC), Ayebo Steve, have rejected the outcome of the last Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly elections.
Baderinwa urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to declare the polls inconclusive due to what he called widespread irregularities in some voting centres in the constituency.
Steve alleged that the polls were massively rigged in favour of a particular party.
The APC agent at the collation centre for Owena-Idanre, Jamiu Dauda, who spoke on behalf of Baderinwa, said the electoral commission must follow the election guidelines and the Electoral Act before announcing the winners of the polls.
According to the results announced by INEC in the constituency, the Social Democratic Party, (SDP) candidate, Tajudeen Adefisoye, polled 6,969; he is followed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Kayode Akinmade, who polled 5,800 votes and the incumbent lawmaker Bamidele Baderinwa, who got 4,817 votes.
Dauda said there were electoral irregularities at Omi-Funfun in Idanre Local Government Area where there was a reported gun duel in which seven people sustained injuries and the electorate were not allowed to vote.
The party’s agent said at Ofosu, in the same local government area, there was the burning of ballot papers and snatching of ballot boxes in some polling units.
He also alleged that at Ala, in the same council area, there were suspected cases of ballot boxes snatching and disenfranchisement of voters.
The APC lawmaker noted that it was necessary to declare the polls inconclusive because the number of votes from the troubled polling units was more than the margin between the leading candidate and the two runners-up.
The UPC senatorial candidate said: “There was vote-buying openly without any resistance by security operatives and other stakeholders in all the polling units.”
Besides, he alleged that the election was characterised by violence, ballot box snatching, intimidation and destruction of ballot boxes as well as papers by hoodlums.
Such actions, he added, were against electoral principles.
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