The All Progressives Congress (APC) Campaign Council has advised the main opposition, People's Democratic Party (PDP) to concede defeat by accepting the outcome of the Nov. 16 governorship election in Ondo State.
Mr Banji Okunomo, the Spokesman, APC Campaign Council gave this advice n a press conference on Wednesday in Okitipupa while reacting to PDP's allegations of irregularities and vowed to seek redress in court.
APC governorship candidate, Gov. Lucky Aiyedatiwa polled 366,781 votes to defeat his closest rival, Agboola Ajayi of PDP who scored 117, 845 votes.
Okunomo described the election as one of the freest and fairest elections in the state which according to him, was a reflection of the desire of the electorates.
According to him, PDP should not waste its resources, energy, time and the precious judicial time on pursuing an unreasonable cause.
"Although the PDP habe the right to seek redress in court, but there are laid down legal processes and standards of proof that the courts will follow before arriving at a decision.
"Anyone who is seeking redress in court, especially in matters relating to electoral process, must be able to prove their case convincingly in line with the standards of law.
“It is ludicrous that the PDP is alleging malpractices in the recently held governorship election where it lost woefully.
"The PDP seems not to have come to terms with the fact that their candidate is not the popular choice.
“It is not a coincidence that Aiyedatiwa won in all the 18 Local ocal Government Areas (LGA) in the state, and in virtually all the wards. It is a show of acceptance which the people had demonstrated even before the elections, especially during the state-wide campaigns.
“The law requires that before a candidate could be declared winner in an election, he must have polled the highest votes and nothing less than 25 percent votes in two-third of the LGA's and Aiyedatiwa surpassed this percentage and was declared winner, as expected”, Okunomo said.
He noted that as much as the PDP has the right to approach the court, they should also know that they carry the burden to substantiate and prove their claims of electoral malpractices, fraud and particularly the allegation of criminality beyond reasonable doubt before the Court.
He added that the court was not a father Christmas, because allegations must be backed up by evidence saying that PDP should stop all the ´holier than thou´ attitude that ithey are now exhibiting.
“The PDP seems to have forgotten that the election is a reflection of the people´s wish. The people rejected the PDP in Saturday´s election, If the PDP lost in the people´s court, it will most certainly lose in the court of law”, Okunomo said.
He, however, lamented that rather than rally round the governor to actualize his vision of rebuilding Ondo State, the PDP was embarking on a wild goose chase. (NAN)
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