You’re misinformed, Osun APC tells NOA chief Abari

The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has reacted to the reported statement of the National Orientation Agency boss, Dr. Garba Abari, that the rerun election victory of the party in the last governorship election was “clearly” decided by money.

Dr. Abari reported made the statement at the weekend in Abuja, the nation’s capital, that he had “monitored and seen the role of money in the Ondo, Anambra, Ekiti and of course, the most dramatic is the Osun rerun election where clearly it was money that decided the winner”.

But the party described the statement as “unfortunate and factually inaccurate”.

“We don’t know what Dr. Abari knows about Ekiti and Ondo states” elections and how they were influenced by money. But we hold that he lacks factual knowledge of what happened in our state,” Osun APC said.

A statement yesterday in Osogbo, the state capital, by APC’s Director of Publicity, Research and Strategy, Kunle Oyatomi, reads: “If Dr. Abari actually monitored the Osun election, he would have seen how the Adeleke family used money so brazenly that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate almost stole victory, but for the fortuitous re-run.

“Our candidate eventually won the election because of the heightened security mounted in and around the polling stations to prevent fraud and stop PDP mercenaries that were mobilised and monitored to steal victory.

“The PDP lost. Now, Dr. Abari is trying to create the impression that the APC won the rerun by buying the votes. That is an alternative fact, which is pure and simple: fake news.”

APC added: “If anybody or party used money to influence the last Osun governorship election, it was the PDP candidate and the Adeleke family.

“The NOA boss may have been misinformed; otherwise, he was biased against the APC. We cannot find any other explanation for such unverifiable statement from Abari on the rerun.”