By DEMOLA AKINYEMI
ILORIN — Controversy trailing last weekend re-run election in Offa local government area of Kwara State took a strange dimension, yesterday, when one of the councillor ship candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Shao South West Ward, Mr Jimoh Afolabi Olawole, earlier declared winner alongside others by Kwara State Independent Electoral Commission, KWASIEC, said he did not win the election.
Similarly, former chairman of Offa local government, Prince Saheed Popoola of All Progressive Congress, APC, also called on stakeholders in the nation’s polity to prevail on KWASIEC to release the alleged authentic results which he claimed he won as the chairman with all the councillors of the party.
The councillor at a briefing said his rejection of the victory awarded to him by KWASIEC became necessary because as a true son of Offa, he stood for equity and justice, stressing that one day everyone would account for his deeds before God almighty.
According to him, “I did not win that election. In all the eight polling units, APC won convincingly, we did not win. I am a loyal member of the PDP, but first and foremost I am a Muslim and as a person I won’t allow anyone to take what belong to me neither will I take what belong to another person.”
The embattled APC chairmanship candidate, also said that he would do everything possible, “within the ambit of law and our democratic rights to retrieve this mandate and exercise it to the benefit of the people of Offa and the glory of God. We shall not rest, we shall not sleep and we will not be tired until the people’s mandate is respected and the rightful candidate is sworn in. It is going to be a long struggle, but we are ready for it in the most decent manner. We have petitioned Radio Kwara for breaching the electoral laws by announcing the results when it should have been announced at the polling centres.
"We have also petitioned KWASIEC for making itself an appendage of PDP. In the next one month, I can say that we will get them out of that place by all legal means because the place does not belong to them.”
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