By Bimbo Ogunnaike
The gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the March 9th 2019 gubernatorial election in Oyo State, Adebayo Adelabu, has declared that he is embarking on a journey to the Supreme Court in order to validate his victory at the poll.
Adelabu made this declaration while reacting to the Monday’s judgement of the Appeal Court which set aside the tribunal judgement that nullified the petition he brought to the court against Governor Seyi Makinde who contested the election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
It would be recalled that a Court of Appeal sitting in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital had on Monday set aside the tribunal judgement that nullified the petition brought to the court by Adelabu against Makinde of the PDP.
Adelabu has since then remained silent.
However, the APC candidate while breaking his silence maintained that the pronouncement made by the Appeal Court has further rekindled his hope in both the electoral and judicial processes.
Adelabu in a statement he personally signed and made available on Wednesday, alleged that some agents of darkness perfected the plan to steal his mandate given to him by the good people of the state.
According to him, this development necessitated his resolve to go to court to reclaim his mandate.
“The pronouncement made by the Election Appeal Tribunal on our challenge of the ruling of the lower Tribunal on Monday has further rekindled our hope in both the electoral and judicial processes in our march to keep a date with history.
When our great party, the All Progressive Congress(APC) presented me as her standard-bearer in the 2019 gubernatorial election in Oyo State, we never wavered in our conviction that the good people of the state knew that I was best candidate among the lots that came out to seek their mandate, ”Adelabu said.
“But we never took this for granted as we worked tirelessly round the clock to showcase our blueprint to turn the fortunes of our dear state around for the better”.
The APC governorship candidate,who said that he ran the most organised campaign, appealed to the people of the state to hold the peace and go about their lawful activities as he approach the Supreme Court to validate the victory.
“It is on record that we ran the most organised and issue-driven campaign and our people, having been convinced of our ability to walk the talk freely gave me their mandate in the election. However, the agents of darkness perfected the plan to steal this mandate, hence our recourse to the judiciary to proof their wrongdoing,”Adelabu said.
“The lower Tribunal, which concerned itself with technicalities rather with the substance of our argument ruled otherwise. Now that the Appeal Court has set the tone of righting the wrong, I appeal to the good people of Oyo State to hold the peace and go about their lawful activities as we approach the Supreme Court to validate your victory.
“After the darkness, no matter how long it takes, comes sunshine. Victory is certain for us and the mass of the people of our state,” he added.
