A group of lawyers, under the aegis of ‘Concerned Indigenes of Ogun State, CIOS, yesterday, issued a six-day ultimatum to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to review the declaration of the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Dapo Abiodun, as the winner of Saturday’s election in the state.
The group, in an open petition to INEC, said the declaration of Abiodun was against the requirements and provisions of the Electoral Act.
INEC, on Sunday, declared Abiodun the winner of the election, after polling 276,298 votes, while Ladi Adebutu of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, scored 262,383 votes to come second.
Addressing newsmen in Abeokuta, the coordinator of the group, Femi Oniyide, alleged that the election was fraught with violence, manipulation and irregularities.
Oniyide insisted that election results from 100 polling units in 14 local government areas of the state were either cancelled or the election not held, due to violence and BVAS malfunctioning.
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He alleged that: “31,000 voters were disenfranchised due to violence, ballot box snatching and burning of ballot papers with non-use of BVAS.
“The margin between the votes of the APC candidate and the voters disenfranchised through cancellation is so huge and should not have been overlooked by the presiding officer.
“We demand by this open petition, that INEC should within six days from today, the 21st of March, 2023 review the ultra vires declaration and return of Professor Kayode Adebowale, the Returning Officer in the governorship election of Ogun State made on Sunday, the 19th of March, 2023 against the requirements and provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022.
“We, hereby, plead with INEC not to allow politicians to destroy our democracy and our judiciary. We cannot afford to put our judges at the brutish end of our election process.
“We plead that INEC should not let our elections be turned to periods of war, in which whoever can unleash the greatest violence and bloodshed shall be declared the winner of an election.”
