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Defeated governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Iyiola Omisore, has blamed the immediate past Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Osun State, Ambassador Toyin Akeju, for his loss in last Saturday’s governorship election.

Omisore, who lost to incumbent Governor Rauf Aregbesola of the All Progressives Congress (APC) by 292,747 votes to 394,684, said in a statement issued yesterday in the state capital, Osogbo:

“We came into this race to make that difference in their lives and offer hope in the land. It was not a race we came into unmindful of some of the odds stacked against us. For instance, we had a situation where a clearly partisan Resident Electoral Commissioner had opened the entire electoral system to our opponent from registration stage through data storage to personnel loading. Though the leadership of INEC eventually took him out of the state weeks to the elections, he already did a lot of harm in the system that would take years to rectify.”

Though Omisore did not mention the name of the accused REC, News Express reports that Ambassador Toyin Akeju occupied the position until late June, when INEC headquarters in Abuja directed him to proceed on leave following allegations of partisanship leveled against him by PDP. Akeju was replaced with Kogi State REC, Mr. Segun Agbaje, who conducted last Saturday’s election.

While the ballot has been widely hailed as credible, the Osun State chapter of PDP alleges that it was rigged and has indicated its decision to head for the election petition tribunal.

The party in a communique issued yesterday after an extraordinary meeting in Osogbo described the election as “robbery of the electorate.”

PDP in the communique signed by the State Chairman, Mr. Gani Olaoluwa, vowed to contest the result “until the peoples’ mandate was restored.”

•Photo shows Senator Omisore.

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