Stephen Oni/Ilorin

In a rare move, a councillorship candidate of Nigeria’s Peoples Democratic Party, in the 31 August council poll in Offa, Kwara State, has denounced his declaration as the winner of the poll.

Mr. Afolabi Jimoh Olawole, one of the 12 Councillorship candidates declared winners by the Kwara State Independent Electoral Commission, KWASIEC, has declared that the PDP never won in Sawo South West Ward where he vied as the party’s candidate.

According to him, PDP lost in all the eight polling units of the ward while the All Progressives Congress, APC, won convincingly, wondering why he should be declared winner of an election he knew was won by his counterpart in the APC.





He said: “It is very clear that Offa people want APC. Offa people don’t want PDP. As a true Muslim with clear conscience, I stand for equity and justice because I know that whatever we do in this world we are going to give an account to our Creator and I fear my Creator.”

Olawole, who spoke at a press conference addressed by the Elders’ Forum in Offa on Wednesday 4 September, said, as a bonafide citizen of Offa and a person who dearly loves his community, he would not be part of such illegality and injustice being perpetrated by KWASIEC, adding that he has never taken what does not belong to him and would not be part of this kangaroo arrangement.

While calling on KWASIEC to release the authentic results of the election, he admonished the PDP to go back to the drawing board with a view to finding out why Offa people are vehemently against the party but in love with APC as clearly demonstrated in the just concluded election and others in the past.

Similarly, a presiding officer at unit 006 Sawo central, Oyetunji Olawale Akeem, said 227 where accredited in the unit while 206 came out to vote in the election, adding that APC scored 130 votes while PDP scored 73 votes. He said: “I can say it anywhere that APC won the election in that unit, I don’t fear anybody except God and it is better to say the truth and stand by it no matter whose ox is gored.”

Also speaking, a former minority leader in the Kwara State House of Assembly and an elder in Offa community, Chief Saka Raji, while urging KWASIEC to release the true results of the election, considered the brazen impunity of the commission as robbery of the right of Offa people.

He said this lawlessness must be urgently redressed in the interest of peace, justice and tranquility.

The APC has said that it won both the chairmanship and all the councillorship seats in Offa. But Kwara electoral umpire declared a falsified result.