Ekiti Election: Lai Mohammed Hails Outcome, Says Nigerians Have Spoken

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed has commended the outcome of the just concluded Ekiti governorship election which was held last Saturday.

He said, “The Nigerian people have spoken, they have spoken loudly about their perception of the APC-led Buhari administration”.

The Minister stated this at a press conference held in Lagos.

He said that with the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the election was more than one state’s gubernatorial poll. “It was a referendum on the performance of the Buhari Administration. And Nigerians have given their verdict”.

The APC candidate, Kayode Fayemi was declared the winner of the election on Sunday morning by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) after he outpolled the Deputy governor of the state, Professor Kolapo Olusola of the PDP, and others in the race to succeed Governor Ayodele Fayose.

He won in 11 out of the 16 Local Government Areas of the state, polling 197,459 votes, and edging out his closest rival Olusola who got 178,121 votes by 19,338 votes.

The Information Minister while commending the outcome said, “It’s not just a defeat for the PDP, it’s a defeat for all the naysayers who have made themselves the spokespersons for Nigerians”.

He added that “It is a death knell for fake news! Anyone who monitored the social media before and during the election would think it would be a landslide for the PDP. But the reality is different.

“We want to most sincerely thank the people of Ekiti State for ensuring that the election was free, fair and credible, as attested to by local and international observers and for turning out en masse to exercise their franchise.

“In 2014, the votes of the people of Ekiti did not count as the then PDP-led Federal Government used federal might to hijack the election and concoct the result.

They barred two serving Governors from travelling to Ekiti to support their fellow Governor. They wilfully shut the Akure airport and we, leaders of the opposition APC, were forced to return to Lagos by road in the night.

“With the roles reversed in 2018, we did not pay the PDP back in its own coin, because of our strong belief in the rule of law. The rest is history”.