…says Jandor free to return to party
Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, on Monday, responded to the claim made by the Labour Party governorship candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, that he won last Saturday’s governorship election in the state.
Sanwo-Olu was officially declared the winner of the election, having secured the highest number of votes in 19 out of the 20 local government areas of the state with 762,134 votes to defeat his closest rival, LP’s Rhodes-Vivour who polled 312,329 and Olajide Adeniran of the Peoples Democratic Party who got 62,449 votes.
On Sunday, Rhodes-Vivour in a series of tweets, condemned the processes that saw Sanwo-Olu’s re-election.
He had tweeted, “In light of this, I am convinced beyond any doubt that the results being released by INEC do not represent the wishes of the majority of peaceful Lagosians.
“More so the results from our field agents and situation room indicated that we won this election.”
APC Publicity Secretary in Lagos State, Seye Oladejo, in his response to the LP governorship candidate, said Rhodes-Vivour needed to calm down and learn the rudiments of partisan politics.
The spokesperson told The PUNCH on the phone, “His overzealousness and exuberance couldn’t be sustained in the face of reality.
“He actually sought to lead a people he couldn’t identify with, couldn’t speak a word of their language and only hoped to cash in on the momentum of youth restiveness.”
The APC spokesman stressed that the LP’s governorship candidate should desist from inciting violence with his comments capable of causing chaos in the state.
“Chinedu needs to wake up to the reality of the fact that the elections are already over and the results have been announced. What we have left are mere rhetorics and academic exercises,” he said.
Speaking on the violence that marred Saturday’s election in some areas, the APC declared that their members were also killed in Oshodi-Isolo, intimidated, harassed and maimed in several local governments of the state.
“The unbelievable aggression of the invading Labour Party actually led to the poor turn-out of voters,” he said.
Reacting to the PDP candidate, Jandor’s possible return, the APC spokesman said the party acknowledged his (Jandor) democratic right to aspire and would welcome him back to the ‘Progressives’ fold when he’s ready to return.
“Jandor is welcome anytime. He’s part of our family,” he said.
The APC commended Lagosians for coming out to vote despite obvious threats while advising Rhodes-Vivour to approach the election tribunal if he was not pleased with the outcome of the election.