NEWS
“We Believe He Did Not Score The Highest Valid Votes” — APC Campaign DG, Oluwole Oke Says, Rejects Adeleke’s Osun Victory
The All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship campaign organisation in Osun State has rejected the outcome of the August 15 governorship election, insisting that Governor Ademola Adeleke did not secure the highest number of valid votes cast in the contest.
The Director-General of the APC governorship campaign, Oluwole Oke, made the position known during an interview with Arise News on Monday, explaining why the party had yet to congratulate Adeleke on his re-election.
Oke said the APC disagreed with the declaration made by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and had commenced a comprehensive review of election materials before deciding its next course of action.
He said, “We do not agree with the declaration of INEC. That’s our position for now. We believe he did not score the highest valid votes.”
The APC campaign chief stressed that the party would not be pressured into accepting the election outcome or congratulating Adeleke until it had completed its assessment of the entire electoral process.
“And like I’ve told you that what we are doing, even for future, for records, is to conduct a thorough review of the entire process and then form our opinion.
“We won’t be under any sort of pressure to easily reach out to congratulate Senator Ademola Adeleke,” Oke said.
INEC had declared Adeleke, the Accord candidate, winner of the election after he polled 511,067 votes to defeat the APC candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, who secured 444,815 votes.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate, Najeem Salaam, finished third with 17,180 votes.
The official results showed Adeleke winning in 19 local government areas, while Oyebamiji secured victory in 11 councils, giving the incumbent governor a margin of 66,252 votes.
Despite the declaration, the APC campaign organisation said it had already begun an audit of the poll and directed its agents across the state to submit relevant election documents for scrutiny.
“We have embarked on an audit process. We have asked all our party agents to submit copies of Forms EC8A, B, and C to our secretariat for review. We need to inspect the materials,” Oke said.
According to him, the party’s review would go beyond the final figures announced by INEC, as the campaign organisation intends to examine the conduct of the election, events leading up to the poll and compliance with the Electoral Act and other applicable laws.
Oke further indicated that the APC could explore legal options if its findings revealed sufficient grounds for further action.
The APC campaign chief noted that the electoral process could extend beyond the declaration of results, with the election tribunal, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court available to determine disputes where necessary.
“Until we do that and form our opinion, we won’t be able to go further to say anything on this,” Oke said.
President Bola Tinubu had congratulated Adeleke after INEC declared him winner, but Oke maintained that the position of the APC campaign organisation remained unchanged.
The party, he said, was focused on conducting its own assessment of the election before determining whether to accept the outcome or pursue further action.
The development has therefore introduced a fresh layer of uncertainty into the aftermath of the Osun governorship election, as the APC withholds recognition of Adeleke’s victory while its officials scrutinise election materials submitted by party agents.
The party has urged its supporters and members of the public to allow the review process to run its course, stressing that its next decision will be based on the findings of the audit.