Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) has reacted to Governor Ayodele Fayose’s plan to protest the Ekiti governorship election in court.
Fayose had on Monday condemned the result which saw Kayode Fayemi defeating the current Deputy Governor of the state and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Kolapo Olusola, in 12 LGAs.
He described the victory of Kayode Fayemi as pyrrhic, vowing to appeal the result in court.
However, INEC has insisted that the result of the election was a reflection of the will of the people.
But, reacting, Sagay advised Fayose and his team not to bother going to court but accept the result in the spirit of sportsmanship.
He told Punch, “When the PDP rigged the election in 2014 Fayose did not complain but is now crying foul because the results don’t favor him.
“I think Ekiti people have restored their sense of self-respect and dignity because to have elected a Fayose was a self-inflicted insult and he insulted them by saying he won the election on the grounds of promising them stomach infrastructure.
“It was a very big insult because what he was saying is that the Ekiti people live solely for the sake of eating. That is why stomach infrastructure was a very big insult. And he insulted them for four years; he ran the state down.
“So, this election was a way of voting Fayose out because I don’t think his deputy was the real candidate. In voting out Fayose, Ekiti people have restored their sense of self-respect and we will no longer call them stomach infrastructure state but as a serious people who look at their progress instead of food.”
The senior advocate also lamented the issue of vote-buying in the election but argued that it could not have affected the outcome of the election since both sides were engaged in it.
