I didn’t say election that produced me was rigged – Gov. Abiodun

Ogun state governor, Prince (Dr) Dapo Abiodun, has debunked a
report that he had admitted that there was irregularities in the
election that led to his emergency as a governor.

Some reports circulated on the social media had indicated that
the governor who contested under the platform of All Progressives
Congress, (APC) agreed that the election that produced him was not
free and fair during the hearing before the tribunal hearing the
petition filed against his victory by the Allied People’s Movement
(APM).

But while dismissing the report, Governor Abiodun, in a
statement released to newsmen on Tuesday said, “In a bid to
interfere in the judicial process going on in the election petition
tribunal sitting in Isabo, Abeokuta, the Akinlade camp has begun
giving false reports of what goes on in the courtroom.

“In a recent report, the camp claimed that Governor Dapo Abiodun
“might have admitted before the tribunal that his election was not
free and fair.”

“This is a mischievous twist of the submissions of Governor
Abiodun in court.

“It is understandable however that this is because Hon. Akinlade
and his puppeteer, Amosun have yet to heal from the wounds of their
disgraceful loss at the election. Their loss was clearly a result
of the people’s frustration with and eventual lack of confidence in
the failed administration of Amosun who against all odds, went on a
desperate mission to install an successor that would have continued
in his established style of tyranny and crass disregard for method
and structure. Amosun, himself already unpopular, lost his own
local government and 5 out of all 8 state constituencies.

“In the tribunal sitting in Isabo, the claim of over voting, by
the Akinlade camp, was never proven in court. It remains an
unsubstantiated claim. Earlier, Governor Abiodun, through his
counsel, Taiwo Osipitan (SAN), had urged the court to dismiss
Akinlade’s petition, as he was unable to prove over voting due to
lack of witnesses.

“Mamman Usman (SAN), counsel to Akinlade, has only been able to
call 34 witnesses from 34 polling units out of the 142 polling
units within the state. Note should be taken that these witnesses,
though admitted before the court, only testified with respect to
the said 34 polling units.

“Osipitan observed that this did not prove over voting, because
even if all the votes from the 34 polling units were cancelled as
Akinlade prayed, Akinlade would still lose by a wide margin.

According to him, votes cast in the units are 2,394 and when
this is deducted from overall votes cast, Dapo Abiodun would poll
239,389 votes while Akinlade would have 219,759 votes, leaving
Abiodun leading.

“”This is, noting that even if the votes cast in these polling
units were given gratis to the candidate of the Allied People’s
Movement (APM), Akinlade; the All Progressives Congress (APC) would
still win the election by a wide margin.

“It was this hypothesis that the Akinlade camp, lacking facts
admissible before the court, predated on and mischievously twisted
as Governor Abiodun’s acknowledgement of irregularities. These
people have deliberately disregarded their actual inability to
prove the claimed irregularity in the electoral process.

“For the enlightenment of the good people of Ogun State, alarm
should further be raised about the self-proclaimed reporters who
churn out these propagandist claims. It has been stated elsewhere
in an opinion written by a concerned citizen that the unpopular
site which hosts these false claims and reports is itself a
propagandist blog set up to roll out information intended to
distract the good people of Ogun State from the truth. For
instance, this recent report backs up its suspicious claims with
the farce “as sighted by our correspondent.” This is, to say the
least, a very insensitive piracy of the journalism profession.

“Let it be restated that most importantly, Hon. Akinlade and his
camp have not been able to substantiate the claim of over voting.
This claim and other allegations are untrue, and it is best they
accept that they lost the election.

“The good people of Ogun State should therefore not be worried
about this most cunning distortion of words and intentions but be
focused on the truth. Rest assured, the people have given the
mandate to Prince Dapo Abiodun, even as the Amosun-Akinlade camp
keep wailing that their mandate was stolen despite not being able
to prove their atrocious claim. There is a new wind of peace that
now blows across the State with the coming in of a new
administration that knows the people always come before the
government”.