The ruling party in Oyo State, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the major opposition political party in Oyo State, the All Progressives Congress (APC) have intensified efforts to claim two more House of Representatives seats.
The two Federal Constituencies are Ibadan North East/Ibadan South East and Oluyole.
According to reports, out of the fourteen (14) Federal Constituencies in Oyo State, PDP had earlier won four (4) while the APC won eight (8) Federal Constituencies in the last general elections.
However, the elections in two Federal Constituencies were declared inconclusive by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The returning officer for Ibadan North East/Ibadan South East, Dr Akanni Lawanson declared the election inconclusive.
He explained that he could not declare a winner of the election because the number of collected Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) in the polling units where elections were not held or were canceled exceeded the margin between the two leading candidates.
Lawanson said that the margin between the two was about 650 votes, while the PVCs in question were in excess of 1,200.
It was learnt that the Oluyole Federal Constituency election was declared inconclusive following some irregularities during the election.
It was further learnt that there were reports of violence and destruction of ballot papers in some polling units in the Federal Constituency.
The returning officer said that the difference in the results between the current occupant, Tolulope Akande-Sadipe of All Progressives Congress and the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Abdulmojeed Olawale Mogbonjubola, was not up to the number of registered voters in the canceled polling units.
A supplementary election for Ibadan North East/ Ibadan South East Federal Constituency would be held in two polling units.
According to a document from INEC, the supplementary election would be held in polling unit 032, Falana Mobil station, Ward 12 in Ibadan South East Local Government. The number of registered voters in this polling unit stands at 666, while the number of PVCs collected is 500. The supplementary election became necessary in this polling unit because the BVAS did not work after several attempts.
Supplementary elections will also be held at polling unit 017, Ile Aborisade compound, ward 07, in Ibadan North East local government area. The number of registered voters stands at 305, while the number of PVCs collected is 266.
The number of registered voters in the two polling units stands at 971, while the PVCs collected is 767. The margin of lead is 624. This made the supplementary election imperative.
For Oluyole Federal Constituency, supplementary elections would be held in two polling units. One of them is polling unit 001, Abbey Technical, Ward 02, Oluyole Local Government area. The number of registered voters in this polling unit stands at 1943, while the number of PVCs collected is 1924. Supplementary elections became necessary because of disruption.
The second polling unit is polling unit 001, IDC school, Olurinde in ward 07 Oluyole Local Government area. The number of registered voters in this polling unit stands at 1071, while the number of PVCs collected is 945. The supplementary elections, therefore became necessary due to disruption.
The number of registered voters in the two polling units where supplementary elections would be held in Oluyole Federal Constituency stands at 3,014, while the PVCs collected stands at 2,869. The margin of lead is 821, this made the supplementary election imperative in the two polling units.
In the meantime, the Oyo State chapter of APC in a statement by the Publicity Secretary, Wasiu Olawale Sadare has said that its candidates have what it takes to win the election.
The APC spokesman added that the APC candidates are ready for the supplementary elections.
“We are ready for the final phase coming up this Saturday and we are confident of securing an undisputable victory this time.
“Our candidate in Oluyole Federal Constituency, Hon Tolulope Akande-Shadipe, and her colleague in Ibadan North East/Ibadan South East, Hon Adedapo Lam-Adesina, are the best for the job and this is evident in their respective background, track record and character.
“They have both done the needful by not taking any chances and the leadership of Oyo APC is fully behind them.
“We can only urge INEC to be fair and transparent in the conduct of the supplementary poll, while collaborative efforts must also be made to disallow vote buying.
“Also, relevant authorities must ensure that the state government officials and party officials who are not registered voters in the affected polling units must not be allowed to be present or move around for obvious reasons”, the statement added.
In a related development, a chieftain of the PDP, Mr Ade Adekunle said that his party is sure of victory at the supplementary elections.
“We are sure of victory on Saturday. Our candidates are the best for the positions. Nobody can defeat us in those areas,” he said.
Source: Dailypost
