After winning the governorship election in Ondo State, the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has announced plans to dominate the Southwestern states.

This bold move aims to solidify APC’s presence in the region.

With its victory in Ondo, Ganduje is confident that APC can secure power in all Southwestern states.

“Our next target now is this geo-political zone, the Southwest geopolitical zone,” he said.

He expressed confidence in the party’s ability to hit its targets, particularly in Southwest Nigeria and commitment to securing victories in the remaining states in the region.

“You know we are good at hitting the target, that is Osun State and Oyo State. We assure you, we will do what is possible to bring them into the fold. So we have political homogeneity in the South-West Geopolitical zone,” he boasted.

The APC has secured a decisive victory in the Ondo State governorship election, garnering 366,781 votes to defeat the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which polled 117,845 votes.

Lucky Aiyedatiwa, the incumbent governor, was previously the deputy governor who took office after Governor Rotimi Akeredolu’s passing in December 2023. He faced stiff competition from 16 other candidates, including Agboola Ajayi of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

With this victory, the APC has strengthened its hold on the South-West region, now governing Lagos, Ogun, Ekiti, and Ondo states. The PDP, however, governs Osun and Oyo states.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has called for the dismissal of the Chairman of INEC, Mahmood Yakubu, and officials of the commission at all levels as part of a reform of the electoral process in Nigeria.

Mr Obasanjo made the call in a paper he presented at the Chinua Achebe Leadership Forum, Yale University, in the United States. The annual lecture honours the late Nigerian writer, Chinua Achebe.

He delivered the address, titled “Leadership Failure and State Capture in Nigeria”, in a pre-recorded speech played at the event.

In his speech, Mr Obasanjo described the 2023 general election as a “travesty”, adding that the reform of the electoral system is a key agenda for the country.

The former president also called for shorter tenures for INEC officials and a more rigorous vetting process to prevent the appointment of partisan individuals.

“As a matter of urgency, we must ensure the INEC Chairperson and their staff are thoroughly vetted. The vetting exercise should produce dispassionate, non-partisan actors with impeccable reputations.

“Nigeria must ensure the appointment of new credible INEC leadership at the federal, state, local government, and municipal – city, town, and village – levels, with short tenures to prevent undesirable political influence and corruption, and to re-establish trust in the electoral system by its citizens,” he said.

He argued that “The INEC Chairperson must not only be absolutely above board but must also be transparently independent and incorruptible.”

Mr Obasanjo said the commission willfully failed to utilise two main technological tools at its disposal—the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Election Result Viewing Portal (IReV)—during the 2023 presidential election, despite the promises made by Mr Yakubu.

“The BVAS and IReV are two technological innovations that, prior to 2023, were celebrated for their potential to enhance the accuracy and transparency of our election results, eliminate the threat of election rigging, and boost public trust in electoral outcomes.

“These technologies were touted by the INEC chairman himself. In the end, these technologies did not fail. INEC wilfully failed to use or implement them, which resulted in widespread voting irregularities. It was a case of inviting the fox into the henhouse,” he said.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) State Collation Agent, Olaniyi Ogungbuji, has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of inducing voters in the just concluded governorship election in Ondo State to the tune of over N35 billion.

He spoke shortly after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)
declared the APC candidate, Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, winner of the Saturday’s governorship election at the INEC headquarters in Akure.

The Returning Officer, Prof Olayemi Akinwunmi, declared Aiyedatiwa winner at exactly 2:29pm.

Aiyedatiwa polled 366,781 votes to defeat his major rival and the PDP candidate, Agboola Ajayi, who came distant second with 117,845 votes, while African Democratic Party’s Adeyemi Nejo came third with 4,138.

Speaking to newsmen after the declaration, Ogungbuji alleged that the ruling party won because it deployed over N35bn to induce voters.

“This is the end result of the election but I can tell you that APC as a party deployed over N35bn into inducing the electorate. And if this is the future of this nation, I think we are doomed for it,” he said.

He also expressed worry that the election didn’t take place at some polling units at Idanre LG but his position was discarded at the collation centre.

Ogungbuji hinted that the party’s candidate, Agboola Ajayi and the party would decide on the next line of action in the coming days.

“I will report back to him (Ajayi) and the party as well, they will take the next appropriate action in the next few days,” he said.

But the APC state agent, Ade Adeogun, dismissed the allegation of vote buying, describing it as flippant excuses.

“You need to understand that throughout this electioneering period, we even complained that Ondo State was over policed.

So, if they had any genuine evidence, which is why I mentioned cogent and verifiable reasons, they would have reported to the security agencies and those persons involved in votes buying or any inducement would have been arrested.

“Without evidence, you can’t just go around and make flippant excuses. They lost an election. They lost woefully and they’re looking for a straw to hold onto.”

He said the opposition party should be allowed to ‘weep’ over the defeat, saying the party has a right to do so.

Adeogun said, “It’s an allegation and when you go to court, he who alleges must prove. For you to prove, you must present cogent and verifiable reasons.

“If you have 10 political parties contesting and only one is complaining, you would understand that it’s a pain of loss that they’re still experiencing and we must give them that right to weep.

“If a child has failed an examination, he is allowed to weep. Let’s give them time to absorb the defeat and then probably accept the fact that they lost because they didn’t deserve to win.”