'I Remain Oyo State Governor' – Seyi Makinde

Hours after the judgment of Court of Appeal sitting in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital, caused confusion among Nigerian, Governor Seyi Makinde, has declared that the mandate of the people of the state given to him through the March 9, 2019 election, remains intact.

The governor in a statement issued on Monday, November 11, by his chief press secretary, Taiwo Adisa, declared that the mandate given to him by the people of the state could not be taken through the backdoor.

He said there was no ambiguity in the judgment delivered by the appellate court in a suit filed by the governorship candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, Adebayo Adelabu.

The statement read: “There is no ambiguity as to the state of things in our pacesetter state as far as the election of March 9, 2019, is concerned. Our party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won the election. The victory was reaffirmed by a ruling of the Election Petitions Tribunal, sitting in Ibadan, the state capital.

“On Monday, the Court of Appeal, also sitting in Ibadan, delivered its judgment on the appeal by the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adebayo Adelabu. In its ruling, the Appeal Court refused to grant any of the three key reliefs sought by the APC candidate.

“The court refused to nullify the election; it refused to order a fresh election and it also refused to order the retrial of the petition. With the above being the reality of the outcome of the appeal court ruling, the election of Engineer Seyi Makinde as the Governor of Oyo state has just been reaffirmed.

He said there was nothing in the appeal court’s ruling that affected the returns made by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), adding that there was nothing that tampered with the mandate freely given to him by the people of the state.

“Governor Makinde hereby urges the good people of Oyo state to remain calm and refuse to be provoked by agents of disruption who are seeking to upturn the truth, which remains constant against all odds.

“We also wish to enjoin the people of Oyo state to ignore the doctored reports in some media outlets, which are merely quoting the judgment of the Court of Appeal out of context. With a clear margin of Makinde’s 515,621 votes to Adelabu’s 357,982 votes, the preference of the people of Oyo State is as clear as day and night,” the statement read.