Kwara state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is set to challenge the result of last Saturday House of Representatives bye-election in Ekiti/Oke-Ero/Isin/Irepodun Federal Constituency of the state.
It will be recalled that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate Abdulraheem Olawuyi as the winner of the election.
He polled 21,236 while his closest rival of the PDP, Saheed Damilare, scored 18,095.
Reacting to the outcome of the election, PDP described the election as a daylight robbery.
It added that the result did not reflect the will of the people as its members were harassed and intimidated during the poll.
The party further described the election as a charade and direct assault on the nation’s democracy.
The state Chairman of PDP, Engr Kola Shittu said the party won the election, adding that INEC upturned it.
“The general disenchantment among the voters and people of Kwara South against Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed administration is not enough to make us lose.
“There may be complaints here and there as nobody is perfect. It is not only in Kwara state that local government staff are not paid. It is because of the economic situation of the country.
“Yes some people may not be happy but that is not enough to say that we lost the election. The major cause of our losing the election is one thumb-printing of ballot papers by INEC for APC and use of un-serialised ballot papers.
“By the time we get to the tribunal, all these will be exposed. By the special grace of God, we are planning to go to the tribunal to challenge the outcome of the election. The party leadership is yet to sit and decide on that but we are preparing for it.
“Honestly, as the chairman of the party I have no doubt in my mind that PDP will win all the elections in February. I have no doubt because we have the populace behind us. We have the support of the electorate.
“You may want to ask what happened in the just concluded bye-election. It is very clear to everybody that we contested against security agents,” he said.
