National leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Bukola Saraki, as well as chairmanship candidates in the just conducted local government elections in Kwara state, Musbau Esinrogunjo and Ismail Muhammed, have vowed to pursue legal action against the state’s Independent Electoral Commission over alleged irregularities in the exercise.
Esinrogunjo contested for the Ilorin West local government while Muhammed contested for the Ilorin East local government.
This is just as the chairman of the Kwara state Independent Electoral Commission (KWSIEC), Mohammed Baba-Okanla, in a telephone interview on Wednesday, argued that the election was free and fair, describing it as a triumph of democracy.
Baba-Okanla also advised all aggrieved politicians to approach courts to ventilate their grievances.
Mr. Esinrogunjo, who alleged that the council poll was characterized by irregularities, added that, “yet, the people of Ilorin West LGA, known for their integrity and gallantry, stood their ground and voted for us massively across all the polling units and electoral wards”.
He, however, appealed to the populace to remain calm and peaceful, saying that, “we shall do everything legally possible to defend the mandate you gave
to me and reclaim it in due course.”
Esinrogunjo, who said that the will of the people was subverted, added that, “The result of the councillors were supposed to be announced at Ward collations Centre, while the result of the chairman was supposed to be announced at the local government secretariat which is the collation centre, but, unfortunately, it was not so”.
Speaking in the same vein, Mohammed of the Ilorin South local government assured that all PDP candidates would explore legal means to press for their mandates.
Also, in a statement by Saraki’s Press Officer on Political Matters, Abdulganiyu Abdulqadir, the former Senate president said that the people had sent a signal of rejection to the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration with their large turn out for the poll.
“In a manner that went beyond partisan consideration and gave expression to the protection of community interests, people from Kwara mobilised themselves to the polling units and met the absence of electoral officials and shoddy preparations by the electoral body.
“Yet the people stood firm against the deliberately concocted frustrations. In some areas, the votes were heavily stacked against APC candidates. In other areas, the voters stood against a system in which less than ten percent of the ballot papers were supplied to polling units for the huge number of accredited voters with no result sheets supplied, amongst other inadequacies.
“The people of Kwara State deserve to be praised for demonstrating how politically savvy, sophisticated, and discerning they are.
“I join numerous Kwarans to thank and commend the various political parties, community development associations, youth groups, religious bodies, and others who form the core of the democratic action that we witnessed on Saturday. May God bless you all.
“Let me also acknowledge that our party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) fielded candidates for chairmanship and councilorship seats who are very popular in their respective communities and acceptable to the people”.
