The Ekiti State governorship election held on Saturday, July 14, has come and gone leaving in its tail both commendation and condemnation in various quarters as to how the whole process was managed. Even though there were fears of violence, the election passed off quite peacefully, thanks to the 30,000 policemen deployed to keep peace in the state.
Ekiti’s election was expected to be hot partly because the outcome would help shape the outcome of the 2019 general elections not only in the South West zone where the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the leading opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are battling for supremacy but also across Nigeria.
the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) conducted the election in 2,195 constituencies in the 177 wards located in the state’s 16 local government areas. Thirty-five political parties fielded candidates. The Chief Returning Officer Professor Idowu Olayinka declared APC’s candidate Dr. Kayode Fayemi as the winner of the election. Announcing the results on Sunday in Ado-Ekiti, Olayinka said the former minister was returned elected having satisfied the requirements of the law and having scored the highest number of votes. Fayemi defeated the Deputy Governor of the state and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Professor Kolapo Olusola, and others who stood in the election. He emerged victorious in 11 out of the 16 local government areas of the state, polling 197,459 votes to beat his closest rival Olusola who got 178,121 votes.
There was a difference of 19,335 votes between Fayemi and Olusola, a sharp margin that brought to the fore the interests in the election. Though Ekiti State has a total of 909,585 registered voters, only 405, 861 turned out for accreditation and only 384,594 valid votes were cast, 18,857 votes were voided. Another sad narrative was incidents of vote buying by the major contenders. INEC said politicians involved in the practice during the Ekiti election “were clever” about it. Mrs May Agbamuche-Mbu, National Commissioner of INEC and Chairman, Legal Services Committee, said in Benin City after the Ekiti election that the commission was taking drastic measures on vote buying in order to curb the trend during the next governorship election in Osun State.
INEC must do the needful to avert future occurrence of this ugly incident as vote buying is a criminal offence. The governor-elect had since described his victory as one for reclaiming the land and restoring Ekiti values. During his thank you visit to President Muhammadu Buhari, Fayemi said he would probe the administration of out-going Governor Ayo Fayose. “I think we need to remove this election from personalities. This was an election that we fought on issues and it will be irresponsible on my part to come here and say that we will not examine what transpired in the last four years in the manner of government,” he said.
PDP and Governor Fayose have rejected the election result and have said they will challenge the outcome in court. There is nothing wrong in going to election petition tribunal and regular courts but we want to appeal to the litigants to pursue their case with decorum. The ruling APC and President Muhammadu Buhari have congratulated Fayemi on his victory; with Buhari specifically tasking him to be magnanimous in victory as “the incoming administration prepares to unfold a new lease of life for the people of Ekiti State through purposeful and responsible governance.”
Dr Fayemi is not new to governance of Ekiti, having ruled the state for four years from 2010-14. Since then he has also garnered more experience as a minister. We expect him to bring this rich experience as well as his formidable intellect to bear in the governance of the state. By now he must have learnt from his past mistakes. Having once lost to Fayose in 2014 and is now about to take over from Fayose, the temptation is strong to pay the outgoing governor back in his own coins. He should resist this temptation and concentrate on the task at hand.
