candidate of the People'sFew hours after the
Democratic Party, PDP, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, was
declared by the Independent National Electoral
Commission, INEC, as the winner of the June 21
governorship election in Ekiti State
, western
Nigeria, the incumbent governor, Kayode Fayemi
has released a concession speech.
It could be recalled that, according to results released
by INEC, Mr Fayose had scored 203, 090 votes to
beat the candidate of the All Progressives Congress
(APC), Mr Fayemi, who scored 120, 433.
The electoral body also announced that the
candidate of the Labour Party, Bamidele Michael
Opeyemi, scored 18,135 votes to come third.
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While reacting to the results announced by INEC
early Sunday morning, Governor Fayemi said: "If
indeed this is the will of the Ekiti People, I stand in
deference to your will. If the result of the elections is
an expression of the voice of our people, we must all
heed your voice."
* PDP's Ayo Fayose
Below is the full concession speech made by the
incumbent Governor Fayemi:
"Yesterday, Ekiti State decided. Following the
gubernatorial elections held in the land of honour,
Ekiti State, Nigeria, the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) has officially returned
the candidate of the People's Democratic Party (PDP)
as the winner of the election.
If indeed this is the will of the Ekiti People, I stand in
deference to your will. If the result of the elections is
an expression of the voice of our people, we must all
heedyour voice.
I have just spoken with my brother, Mr. Peter
Ayodele Fayose, congratulating him on his victory. In
a few hours from now, I would be meeting the
Governor-elect to discuss the future of our dear state
and how we would work together to institute a
smooth transition programme.
It has been a hard fought election. As expected, in
the course of the campaigns, there were unsavory
episodes as the candidates toured the nooks and
crannies of the state to sell ourselves to the people.
Elections tend to be highly divisive affairs that often
see brother rising against brother. Despite our
diverse party affiliations, and regardless of which way
we voted on Saturday, we must remember that we
are all sons and daughters of Ekiti State. Ekiti is ours
to build together.
On our part, over the course of the campaigns, we
presented our scorecards before the people of Ekiti
State. We never at any point took your support for
granted. We campaigned, we canvassed and we
traversed the nooks and crannies of this State. Our
performance and achievements in office will remain
the backdrop against which the next government
and indeed future governments will be assessed. We
are proud that with the support of Ekiti people, we
have raised the bar of excellence in governance. In
all, we gave our best, for conscience and for posterity.
Indeed a new sociology of the Ekiti people may have
evolved. However, the task of understanding how the
outcome of this election has defined us as a people
will be that of scholars. For us as an administration
and a cadre of political leaders in Ekiti State, we
have fought a good fight, we have kept faith.
To members of our party, our campaign team and
indeed all Ekiti people who defied the siege on our
state to cast their votes for our party, I salute your
exemplary courage and doggedness in the face of
harassment. Thank you for staying the course. The
incidences of brazen harassment, intimidation and
allied infractions on fundamental humanrights, which
many of you suffered in the hands of agents of the
state, would be documented and communicated to
the appropriate authorities, for the records.
I thank you all for listening.
May God bless the land of honour, Ekiti State,
Nigeria.
May God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria."
Meanwhile, shortly after Mr Fayode was declared
winner of the Ekiti Governorship elections, President
Goodluck Jonathan had gone on his official Facebook
account to post congratulatory message on Fayose's
victory.Prior to the election, political analysts had predicted
the contest to be between the candidates of three
parties - the incumbent governor, Kayode Fayemi of
the APC, a former governor of the state, Ayo Fayose
of the PDP, and a member of the House of
Representatives, Opeyemi Bamidele of the Labour
Party.