The Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) on Monday congratulated Dr Kayode Fayemi on his victory in Saturday’s governorship election in Ekiti State.
The Chairman of IPAC in the state, Mr Ilesanmi Omolayo, congratulated Fayemi while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) from Ado-Ekiti.
He said the victory of Fayemi, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), over his closest rival, Prof. Olushola Eleka of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), reflected the will of the people.
Omolayo said that with Fayemi’s election, the people had put their trust in him to better their lots, urging the governor-elect to work to meet their expectations and not disappoint them.
“We congratulate Dr Fayemi on his election as the new governor of our dear state and wish him all the best.
“We believe the outcome of the election reflects the will of the people. The people actually spoke.
“However, we urge Fayemi to see his victory as a call to service to meet the expectations of Ekiti people.
“We advise him not to betray the trust reposed in him and disappoint them, but to work for the collective interest of everyone in the state”, he said.
The IPAC chairman also lauded the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for what he called the credible conduct of the election.
He said IPAC was pleased with the conduct by INEC and efforts of security agents and other stakeholders to make the election a success.
Omolayo dismissed complaints in some quarters that the election result was manipulated, describing such as baseless.
“You see when some people’s expectations in elections are not realised, they tend to say all sorts of things.
“For the records, the results of the last Saturday election in Ekiti were not manipulated. I can say this because IPAC monitored the whole process.
“in fact, I moved from one local government to another on the election day, and I can tell that the whole process was transparent.
“At the final collation centre, I, as IPAC chairman, was the one that opened all the ballot boxes and everything was sorted out and counted in the presence of everybody.
“I urge everyone to put politics aside and accept the fact that the election was okay. We should all join hands with the governor-elect to move Ekiti forward,” he said.
