Apart from the failure of the commission to announce the results of the remaining four local governments where election also held, it could not conduct the rescheduled election in Oye Local Government Area where two wards were postponed till Sunday due to violence.
There were sporadic gun shots heard in Oye town, the hometown of the Chairman, Senate Committee on Privatisation, Senator Ayo Arise, from whose residence 36 thugs were reportedly arrested on Saturday.
There was also confusion at Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, over the whereabouts of the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mrs. Olusola Adebayo.
At about 5pm when INEC was scheduled to announce the results of the remaining four local governments, an INEC federal official, Mr. Adedeji Soyebi, told journalists that the REC was “indisposed” and so could not be at the venue.
As at Saturday evening, Segun Oni had 15,420, while AC’s Dr. Kayode Fayemi polled 15,026 from five local government declared.
Fayemi had carried into the rerun a total of 78,091 votes against Oni’s 65,743.
Probed for details, Soyebi said Adebayo had become indisposed as a result of the stress of the election.
However, our correspondents gathered that the REC had refused to endorse allegedly doctored results from Ido-Osi Local Government.
While a source said Adebayo had been summoned to Abuja for further briefing by higher authorities, another source said the REC simply eloped, having insisted she could not sign the inflated result.
When Soyebi attempted to announce the results, a Lagos lawyer and one of the supporters of the Action Congress candidate, Mr. Kayode Fayemi, Mr. Femi Falana, called Soyebi‘s attention to the section of the Electoral Act which stated that only the REC had the power to announce the results.
Falana cited Section 70 of the Electoral Act, 2006, as stating that only the REC was eligible to announce the result.
It was also learnt that pressure was being piled on her to resign to pave the way for another REC who would later announce the result.
Adebayo, who was the REC in the 2007 governorship election in Ekiti, was also said to have been taken away from Ado-Ekiti by her relatives to an unknown destination.
This was even as a photo- journalist from the PUNCH, Mr. Segun Bakare, was attacked in front of the residence of Arise for taking shots of scenes of violence that broke out again in the town.
Bakare‘s telephone handset and his camera, a NIKON D 300 digital worth about N650,000, was seized while he was brutalised by some people said to be loyalists of the senator.
Bakare was later treated at a private hospital in Ado-Ekiti for injuries he sustained.
As early as 8am on Sunday, AC supporters had besieged the office of INEC in Ado-Ekiti with a view to monitoring the submission of results of the election in local government areas which were not announced on Saturday.
But trouble started when information got to the hundreds of supporters of the AC who had been keeping vigil at the collation centre, Christ Girls School, Ado Ekiti, since Saturday, that the results were being manipulated.
There was palpable apprehension across the town as rumours were rife that INEC had manipulated the contentious result of Ido-Osi Local Government to favour the Peoples Democratic Party.
The atmosphere became more charged when the rumour gathered momentum that the REC, who was the Returning Officer, had been under intense pressure to declare the PDP candidate Mr. Segun Oni, the winner.
The placard-carrying AC supporters made bonfires at Fajuyi Road and two other locations at the collation centre, chanting pro-Fayemi songs and warning of the dire consequences of upturning their candidate‘s victory.
One of the placards reads, ”INEC, remember Operation Weti e, declare Fayemi now. Don‘t alter Fayemi‘s victory. We will not take it lightly this time around.”
Tension rose among the AC members when a PDP chieftain that was in a grey sports utility van, in company with retinue of thugs, drove recklessly through the various barricades mounted by the protesters.
Our correspondents observed that around 1.30pm, senior federal and state officials as well as senior police officers drove into the Governor‘s Office, close to the trouble spot.
It was at that point that policemen rolled out Armoured Personnel Carriers and started firing gunshots to scare the protesters and passers-by away.
Also, men of the Mobile Police Force, Squadron 33, who were stationed close to the trouble spot, came out in a big truck and joined in the shooting-spree.
Men of the state fire service were also drafted to the scene to put out the bonfires made by the protesters.
Our correspondents observed that security was quickly beefed up around the state capital, with roadblocks mounted by 15 police patrol vans loaded with heavily-armed policemen that moved into town from other parts of the state.
In Oye, youths brandishing dangerous weapons as early as 8am, had taken to the streets with sounds of gun shots booming in some parts of the town.
INEC had moved its election materials back to Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, on Saturday after it became obvious that the election could not be conducted under the tense atmosphere.
After many hours of trial, it was gathered that INEC decided that it would not be safe again to conduct the election in the town; forcing the commission to postpone the election till Monday (today).
Soyebi later announced that the election in Oye had been postponed indefinitely.
INEC headquarters in Abuja initially said that the election would be held in Oye on Monday.
Chairman of INEC, Prof. Maurice Iwu, in a statement admitted that there were problems over the Ekiti election.
But INEC spokesman, Mr. Andy Ezeani, later in a text message, said the election in Oye had been postponed indefinitely.
However, at about 5pm on Sunday, the AC‘s National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, alleged that the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mike Okiro, had arrived at the state capital and released some of the hoodlums arrested on Saturday.
Mohammed said, ”Information at our disposal shows that the IG has come to Ado and one of the first things he did was to release those PDP thugs who were arrested in Oye-Ekiti.
“These are thugs who were found with charms and dangerous weapons; whereas, many of the AC members who were arrested are still being incarcerated.”
But the Force Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Emmanuel Ojukwu, denied the report, saying that Okiro was in Abuja and had nothing to do with the Ekiti rerun.
In an earlier statement by Mohammed, the AC had said the result from the Ido-Osi, which gave the PDP 15,939 votes against AC‘s 3,793, was the most improbable result.
Mohammed said the development could only have been made possible by fabrication of figures.
He said, “After the collation of the results from five local governments (Gboyin, Ekiti South-West, Irepodun-Ifelodun, Ise-Orun and Ijero), on Saturday, the AC had 15,026 and the PDP 15,420 votes without counting AC‘s existing credit of 11,000 votes.
“Realising the PDP‘s deficiency with results from just four local governments remaining, the collation was suspended till Sunday.
“Overnight, however, the cooked results, said to have been collated in a police station without the AC agents in attendance, surfaced with the PDP winning 15,939 in just one local government!
“That result simply cannot stand. First, it shows that the PDP, in collusion with INEC, simply worked from answer to question, having realised there is no way the PDP could catch up with the AC.
“Secondly, the improbability of the figure from one local government alone more than all the total votes scored by PDP in all the five local governments areas whose results were collated on Saturday.”
He alleged that in Ido-Osi, the AC was awarded a zero vote, stressing that the party would not accept it and would defend its votes with all lawful means necessary.
Falana’s position was corroborated by a former governor of the state, Chief Niyi Adebayo, Opeyemi Bamidele and Dele Adesina, SAN.
But Soyebi in his reply, said the REC was unable to attend the event because of ill-health.
Our correspondents learnt that the party chieftains were already privy to information that the REC decided to boycott the event because of her disagreement with some forces in their bid to tamper with the election results.
Bamidele told Soyebi that INEC must take full responsibility for any breakdown of law and order in the state.
“You are here just as master of ceremonies. The REC must be here. If you cannot handle this, please step aside,” Bamidele said.
Adesina observed that INEC was playing with the destiny of a people that knew their rights and civic responsibility.
The chieftains also faulted the Monday (today) date earlier fixed for election in Oye Ekiti, saying that they were not properly notified in accordance with the Electoral Act.
At the end, Soyebi informed the stalwarts that he would consult with other stakeholders in the commission and inform them properly of the new date for the election.
However, the serious tension in Ado-Ekiti had made some INEC officials that came from different parts of the country to hurriedly move out of the town.
They were already in Akure, the Ondo State capital, where they had planned to take refuge when a call was made to one of them directing them to return to Ado-Ekiti on the excuse that they would be needed to supervise the botched Oye election of today.
Though, many of them were reluctant made to go back, one of them said given their status as civil servants they had to obey the order.
To their chagrin, however, they were told that the election of Oye and announcement of the remaining result had been postponed indefinitely.
Story by: Olayinka Oyebode, sola Fabiyi, Sam Awoyinfa, Ayodele Ale, Olalekan Adetayo, Kemi Obasola, Toyosi Ogunseye, Friday Olokor, and Segun Bakare.