President Buhari met with the governor-elect Mr. Abiodun Oyebanji of the just concluded election in Ekiti state and other APC leaders today. He congratulated Oyebanji and asked him to be benevolent in victory in the interest of the people
The president told the APC national chairman, “This is a good beginning for you and your team. The APC is getting stronger and more united. The victory of our party in Ekiti is an indication of the confidence of Nigerians in the ability of our great party to deliver quality governance to all.”
Commending the other contestants in the election, the governor –elect said, “I thank all other aspirants and their respective political parties for the dignified way they carried out their campaigns, and for contributing to the credibility of the process.”
He further stated, “I will be seeking audience with you all in the coming days, to benefit from your wealth of ideas on how to develop our dear state – to complement our vision and blueprint for the accelerated development of Ekiti. You have all performed creditably and earned places of honour in the history of our state.”
Mr. Oyebanji denied the allegation of vote buying. Meanwhile, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) urges INEC to prosecute vote buyers and announcing that “Vote buying encourages poor governance and weakens citizens’ capacity to hold their ‘elected officials’ accountable for their actions. When political candidates or their sponsors decide to buy the support of the people rather than contest fairly for their votes, there are possibilities that such candidates and sponsors will show a disregard for democratic rules and a disposition to adopt illegal means becomes inevitable.”
