By Richard Akintade, Osogbo
Governor of Osun State, Senator Ademola Adeleke, has expressed solidarity with his Adamawa state counterpart, Ahmadu Fintiri, describing recent development in the state as “a serious threat to our nascent democracy.”
In a statement issued in Osogbo, on Tuesday, Governor Adeleke expressed shock at the undemocratic drama and described the attempt to truncate collation of results and announce rightful winner as “a direct assault on electoral democracy” which should never be allowed to stand.
“I stand by democracy, rule of law and due process as stipulated by the constitution and the Electoral Act. We oppose any shenanigans to tamper with the will of Adamawa people who have the inalienable rights to choose their leaders.
“Democracy is premised on people’s choice freely expressed through the ballot. That process has now being standardized and rig-proved with BVAS machines, which further strengthened the safety of voters’ choice. We stand by the Constitution and the Electoral Act, “Governor Adeleke affirmed.
He, however, commended the swift intervention of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which nullified the illegal declaration of a winner before the conclusion of collation of votes.
“I hail INEC’s intervention. The Commission did well to have acted to save the day. I, however, call on the Commission to speed up the process of votes collation. Any further delay may strengthen the hand of those who want to suppress the will of the people.
“INEC should fast track the collation and announce the rightful winner. Only that route can salvage the serious challenges facing our democracy. We must join hands to stop erosion of democratic practices and values, “Governor Adeleke concluded.
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