The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chairmanship candidates, Musbauhdeen Esinrogunjo and Ismail Muhammed on Wednesday called for calm over the outcome of the just held local government elections in Kwara State
Esinrogunjo and Muhammed contested for the Ilorin West and Ilọrin East council seats in the election.
Addressing newsmen at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) secretariat, Ilorin, the aggrieved candidates claimed the process was fraught with irregularities and vowed to “reclaim their mandate in court”
According to Esinrogunjo, the election was nothing but a charade and broad daylight robbery.
He said democracy is under threat in Kwara and called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as a lover of democracy, to restore the people’s confidence in the system.
It is now glaring and expedient, he said, the need for INEC to conduct local government elections in the country and called on the presidency and national assembly to quicken the process towards its achievement.
He alleged that the state government
in connivance with the State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC) fraudulently took away the mandate freely given to me by the people.
“The poll was characterised by irregularities ranging from voter intimidation cum harassment, manipulation and vote-buying among others.
“Yet, the people of Ilorin West known for their integrity and gallantry stood their ground and voted for us massively across all the polling units and electoral wards.
“The unpopular government in the state overturned the results of the election and subverted the will of the people. Election results were announced at an unknown place against all odds”, he claimed.
The former governor’s aide asserted that “To make matters worse, they hurriedly swear-in the candidates of their party that lost woefully in the field. This is a democratic coup that is not acceptable and will not stand the test of time”.
He said, “Even in most of the places where there was no election, they also announced winners, in most cases, they did not even allow our agents to sign the result they announced”.
The chairmanship candidate argued that “The result of the councillors and chairmen were supposed to be announced at ward and council secretariat as collation centre respectively.
He however, appealed to their supporters to remain calm and peaceful, pledging that “we shall do everything legally possible to defend the mandate you gave me and reclaim it in due course.
“We believe the judiciary is the last hope of the common man and we have confidence that we shall get justice at the end of day in the court.
“We have video evidence of announcements of our candidates in the councillorship elections and we are going to ventilate our grievances at the appropriate place to get justice”, he submitted.
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