Osun Poll: We Do Not Agree With INEC, Adeleke Did Not Score Highest Valid Votes – Oke

•Says APC Campaign Team’s Position Differs From That Of Tinubu

The Director-General of the All Progressives Congress governorship campaign in Osun State, Oluwole Oke, has stated that the party will not be pressured into congratulating Governor Ademola Adeleke over his re-election.

Oke, who said in an interview with Arise News on Monday, noted that the APC was reviewing the election results and would determine its next step after examining the records.

The lawmaker stated that the APC does not agree with the declaration by INEC, adding that the party believed Adeleke did not receive the highest number of valid votes.

He said the position of President Bola Tinubu, who had congratulated Adeleke following the declaration of the result by the Independent National Electoral Commission, was different from that of the party’s campaign team, which was “on the ground” and assessing the process.

“And like I’ve told you, what we are doing, even for the 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.

He added, “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.”

INEC declared Adeleke, the Accord candidate, winner of the election after he polled 511,067 votes to defeat the APC candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, who scored 444,815 votes. ADC candidate Najeem Salaam came third with 17,180 votes.

Adeleke won in 19 local government areas, while Oyebamiji secured 11, giving the incumbent a winning margin of 66,252 votes.

Following the declaration, Adeleke said he expected Oyebamiji to call and congratulate him, describing it as the “civilised thing to do.”

However, Oke said the APC campaign team was more concerned with reviewing the electoral process before making any decision.

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“When you have a project of this nature with the outcome announced by INEC, we will not be in a haste, nor shall we be under pressure without doing the needful,” he added.

According to him, the party had commenced an audit of the election and directed its agents to submit relevant result sheets for scrutiny.

“We have embarked on an audit process. We have requested that all our party agents submit copies of Forms EC8A, B, and C to our secretariat for review. We need to inspect the materials,” Oke said.