…urges Jegede not to challenge result.
The Senator representing Ogun East Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Senator Buruji Kashamu has described calls for the cancellation of the result of the Ondo State governorship election as misplaced. In a statement he issued in Lagos yesterday, Kashamu said the outcome of the election was more of a referendum on the outgoing Governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko than the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He said the outcome of the election was a true reflection of the wish of the electorate and absolved the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) or the Federal Government of any blame in the conduct of the exercise.
Kashamu advised the PDP candidate, Mr. Eyitayo Jegede (SAN) not to waste his resources on challenging the result of the election because the facts speak for themselves.
“My very good brother, Mr. Jegede whom Governor Mimiko is trying to use as a pawn in this game narrowly won his polling booth by one vote but lost his ward and local government. So, how could he be said to have stood a chance of winning the election? he asked rhetorically.The statement went on, “The truth of the matter is that the people had since turned their back against Governor Mimiko. They did not want a third term for Mimiko under any guise. Civil servants are being owed six months’ salary. On the eve of the election, he then told them that he would pay them if they voted his candidate, Mr. Eyitayo Jegede (SAN). So, he had the money all the while and did not pay?
What does he take the good and sophisticated people of Ondo State for? “Besides, after being in office for eight years, Governor Mimiko took Mr. Eyitayo Jegede from the same Ondo Central Senatorial District where he hails from as his successor. Who does that? Not even in cosmopolitan Lagos can such happen! So, the tell-tale signs were there for everyone to see. “Instead of putting the interest of PDP above his personal interest and supporting a fellow party man in Barrister Jimoh Ibrahim, who is an experienced and tested hand from Ondo South Senatorial District, he fought tooth and nail to get him out of the ticket. His eyes are clearer now that he has lost everything.” Kashamu said Governor Mimiko’s inability to court the old PDP members whom he displaced was also factor that made him to lose the election. He accused him (Mimiko) of deceit and betrayal of all those who helped him, especially in his first term, including the Governor-elect, Mr. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN). On claims that there was heavy voter inducement, the lawmaker said no party could be absolved of the act, adding, “If you paid N500 or N1, 000 and another person gave N2, 000 or N3, 000, you are as guilty as the person you seek to accuse of the commission of crime.
“Even if anyone blames the voter inducement on the level of poverty, then again it is a heavy indictment on the Governor Mimiko-led eight-year administration. “That does not have anything to do with the Federal Government. He has been the Chief Executive of an oil-rich state for eight straight years. The question should be: what did he do with all the resources?
The people were simply tired of his legacy of corruption, lies and deceit, and rejected him at the poll,” Kashamu said.
