Adeniyi Olajide, the Action Congress of Nigeria's candidate in the by-election conducted on Wednesday into Moba Constituency 1 in Moba Local Government Area of Ekiti State has been declared the winner of the election.
Mr Olajide contested against the People's Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Gboye Afilaka in an election which to an extent suffered apathy by voters.
The election suffered a low turn out of voters, contrary to the expectations of politicians in the area, and also considering the level of high political status that had joined the party's political train for the coveted seat of the state house of assembly.
The seat became vacant following the death of the former Deputy Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Saliu Adeoti of Action Congress of Nigeria on Oct. 27.
The vacant Legislative seat which was contested by the majorly ACN, PDP and the Labour Party (LP), the leading three parties in the state commenced at about 8.30 in the morning was held in five wards of the constituency comprising 49 polling units.
The security operatives however ensured a heavy presence by a team jointly co-coordinated by the state Commissioner of Police, Olayinka Balogun and the state Director of the State Security Service (SSS), though some reports of ballot snatching were also reported.
The state chairman of People's Democratic Party, Bola Olu-Ojo said in an interview that the election was rigged and should not be honoured by the INEC,
"you can see for yourself and I am sure that some of you still have it on the tape. If INEC should go ahead with this, then we have started seeing what will happen in 2011.
Monitoring the election, a member of PDP and the Minister of State, Caleb Olubolade and the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Isiyaku Maigoro, confirmed few hitches but claimed that there were efforts to rectify them.
Although there was a case of alleged snatching of a ballot box at Osan-Ekiti by some alleged political thugs, the election was generally peaceful.
Ajayi Emmanuel, one of the Presiding Officers, who spoke to News Agency of Nigeria, said that the election at his unit was peaceful and commended the security personnel for their efforts in checkmating political thugs.
Mr Maigoro also expressed satisfaction with the conduct, stating that apart from Osan-Ekiti where a ballot box was snatched, the election is generally peaceful as at noon.
"Since it is still on and we are still monitoring the exercise, I cannot conclude on the conduct now until the completion of the exercise," he said.
Mr Olubolade however told the media that "our people should see the need to abide by the presidential directive for a free and fair election. It is only a free and fair election that can give Nigeria credibility in the comity of nations.
"It is unfortunate that some state government officials are using government vehicles to perpetrate this dastardly act,'' he said.
The minister disclosed that the Commissioner of Police and the Director of SSS had already visited the unit and started investigations.
However, the former Governor of Ekiti State, Segun Oni and the People's Democratic Party in a press statement issued after the election faulted the by-election, calling it a disgrace to INEC and Nigeria as a country.
""From what has happened today, this country is indeed in trouble. People who go about sermonising on one-man, one-vote were the ones who invaded Moba with thugs, snatched ballot boxes and unleashed terror on the people.
This shameful!
"If Jega is serious about free and fair election in 2011, he ought to have used this election in just 49 polling units to show Nigerians that. He should have even supervised it directly so that he can learn from it but he has allowed the whole thing to be messed up," Mr Oni said.
Meanwhile, Mr Maigoro, has vowed to prosecute any of his workers who by any means breaks the law during the by-election.
Source:http://234next.com/
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