All Progressives Congress (APC) on Monday rejected the Independent National Electoral Commission’s declaration of Governor Ademola Adeleke as winner of the Osun State governorship election
The party’s Director-General of the Osun State Governorship Campaign, Oluwole Oke, announced the position while speaking on Arise News. He said the APC had begun an internal audit of the electoral process before deciding on further action.
“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,” Oke said.
He explained that party agents had been instructed to submit copies of Forms EC8A, EC8B and EC8C to the party secretariat for detailed inspection.
“When you have a project of this nature with the outcome announced by INEC, we will not be in a haste, nor shall we be under pressure without doing the needful. The needful that we need to do is to evaluate the process, get all the records, review the process, and then form an opinion,” he added.
Oke said the review would also examine pre-election and election-day issues against the Electoral Act and other relevant laws. “There are a lot of issues before us. There are a lot of issues for determination, even on a pre-election basis,” he stated. “Until we do that and form our opinion, we won’t be able to go further to say anything on this.”
Addressing reports of internal party divisions, Oke said such disagreements were not unique to the APC and noted similar disputes within the Accord Party. He maintained that parties typically unite at the polls.
On the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s temporary freezing of Osun government accounts before the election, Oke said the agency was carrying out its lawful functions and welcomed President Bola Tinubu’s directive to unfreeze the accounts.
He dismissed suggestions that the APC’s control of the federal government conferred an unfair advantage, insisting that “politics is local.” The presence of APC governors and leaders in the state, he said, was an expression of solidarity with the party’s candidate.
Oke described the voter turnout as a positive sign of growing civic awareness among Nigerians. He also criticised the Adeleke administration’s performance in education, healthcare and support for farmers, saying these issues would form part of the party’s broader review.
The APC has urged the public to allow time for the audit to be completed before the party makes its findings public.
