The All Progressives Congress (APC) campaign council in Osun State has refused to congratulate Governor Ademola Adeleke over his victory in the August 15 governorship election.
The campaign team said it was still reviewing the election results and the conduct of the poll before deciding its next move.
The Director-General of the APC campaign, Oluwole Oke, disclosed this during an interview with Arise News on Monday.
Oke said the team’s position was different from that of President Bola Tinubu, who had congratulated Adeleke after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared him winner.
He said the campaign was directly involved in the election and needed to examine the results before taking a final position.
“We won’t be under any sort of pressure to easily reach out to congratulate Senator Ademola Adeleke,” Oke said.
The APC campaign DG also rejected INEC’s declaration, insisting that Adeleke did not secure the highest number of valid votes.
“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.
According to Oke, the party has begun auditing the election and directed its agents to submit relevant result sheets for examination.
The documents include Forms EC8A, EC8B and EC8C, which the party said would be reviewed at its secretariat.
The APC Director of Media and Information, Kola Olabisi, said the party was studying results from all 332 wards across the state.
He added that the party would consult its lawyers and consider legal action if the review reveals irregularities.
The APC said its assessment would also cover the pre-election period and the overall conduct of the poll.
Oke said the party would compare its findings with the Electoral Act and other relevant laws before announcing its next step.
INEC declared Adeleke the winner after he polled 511,067 votes against the APC candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, who scored 444,815 votes.
Accord Party candidate Najeem Salaam came third with 17,180 votes.
Adeleke won 19 of the state’s 30 local government areas, while Oyebamiji won 11.
The result gave Adeleke a winning margin of 66,252 votes.
After his declaration, Adeleke said he expected Oyebamiji to congratulate him.
The APC campaign council, however, urged the public to allow it to complete its review before announcing its final position or deciding whether to challenge the election result in court.
