The Director-General of the All Progressives Congress governorship campaign in Osun State, Wole Oke, has said the party will not be rushed into congratulating Governor Ademola Adeleke over his victory in the August 15 governorship election, insisting that the APC must first establish the true outcome of the poll.
Oke said the party’s decision was informed by its disagreement with the declaration made by the Independent National Electoral Commission and its ongoing review of the election results.
Speaking in an interview with Arise News on Monday, the APC campaign DG said the party was examining the entire electoral process and had directed its agents to submit relevant result sheets for verification.
He explained that while President Bola Tinubu had congratulated Adeleke after INEC declared him the winner, the position of the President was different from that of the APC campaign team, which participated directly in the election and was therefore assessing what happened at the polling units and collation centres.
“And like I’ve told you that what we are doing, even for 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.
The APC campaign DG further stated that the party was not satisfied with INEC’s declaration, maintaining that its candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, did not lose the election based on the valid votes recorded.
“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,” he said.
INEC declared Adeleke of the Accord Party winner after he polled 511,067 votes to defeat Oyebamiji, who secured 444,815 votes. The ADC candidate, Najeem Salaam, came third with 17,180 votes.
Adeleke won 19 local government areas, while Oyebamiji secured victory in 11, giving the incumbent a margin of 66,252 votes.
After his declaration, Adeleke said he expected Oyebamiji to congratulate him, describing such a gesture as the “civilised thing to do.”
But Oke maintained that the APC campaign team would not act based on pressure or political expectations, stressing that the party was more concerned about establishing the credibility of the election.
“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 said.
Oke disclosed that the party had commenced an audit of the election and asked its agents to submit copies of Forms EC8A, EC8B and EC8C to the party secretariat.
“We have embarked on an audit process. We have asked all our party agents to submit copies of Forms EC8A, B, and C to our secretariat for review. We need to inspect the materials,” he said.
He said the APC would also examine events leading to the election and assess the conduct of the poll against the provisions of the Electoral Act and other relevant laws.
The party’s Director of Media and Information, Kola Olabisi, also confirmed that the APC was studying results from all 332 wards in the state.
According to the APC, the election process could still be subjected to judicial scrutiny through the tribunal, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, adding that the party would consult its lawyers and consider all available legal options if irregularities were established.
Oke also used the opportunity to criticise the Adeleke administration, particularly its performance in education, healthcare and support for farmers.
“When you look at this in totality, you can see the failures of government glaring in the citizens’ faces,” he said.
He urged the public to give the APC campaign team time to complete its assessment, stressing that the party would announce its next course of action after reviewing the available electoral materials.
For now, Oke’s position is clear: the APC campaign team is not prepared to follow the conventional path of immediately congratulating Adeleke. Instead, it wants to scrutinise the election, challenge any irregularities it identifies and determine whether the result declared by INEC truly reflects the will of Osun voters.
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