Offa rerun: APC demands release of 'authentic result'

The All Progressives Congress has called for the immediate announcement of the"authentic results" of Saturday's rerun of OffaLocal Government election by the Kwara State Independent Electoral Commission.
A statement by the party's Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, a copy of which was made available to our correspondent on Sunday said the party rejected "the cooked results announced by the Kwara Peoples Democratic Party" on Sunday.
The party said the PDP "brazenly converted its defeat to victory", a move the APC described as totally unacceptable, and which"will not stand."
Similarly, two chiefs of the APC in Kwara State, Mr. Dele Belgore (SAN), and the party'schairmanship candidate in the Offa LG rerun election, Mr. Saheed Popoola, on Sunday in Ilorin, described the results of the election purportedly announced on the state radio as unacceptable and scandalous.
They urged KWASIEC to follow the law by announcing the duly signed results given to all the agents of political parties in Offa, which they said were in possession of security agencies that supervised the conduct of the election on Saturday before the Returning Officer allegedly absconded from the Offa LG collation centre.
In the radio announcement, the chairmanshipcandidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr. Segun Olanipekun, was said to have won the election, having purportedly won 35,937 votes, while Popoola polled 20,161 votes. Olanipekun was also announced to have won in all the wards in the LG.
But Belgore and Popoola said the signed result sheet obtained at the collation centre showed that the APC defeated the PDP in 11 of the 12 wards. They added that the PDP won only in Igboodun Ward. According to them, in all, APC scored 11,526, as against the PDP's 4,668.
Belgore spoke in a statement on Sunday, while Popoola spoke during a media briefing in Ilorin.
The APC's national body backed the claim in its statement, saying, "According to the authentic results of the elections, which are in possession of KWASIEC, as well as securityagencies, the APC got 11,526 votes, compared to the PDP's 4,668, as against the cooked figures announced by the PDP in Ilorin, which awarded the PDP 35,937 and theAPC 20,161."
The party, therefore, expressed shock at what it described as "the antics of the Electoral Officer of the Offa LG and other KWASIEC officials, who sneaked out of the local government collation centre, just when the results were to be announced, and had yet to carry out their assigned duties."
The statement added, "The next thing was that the PDP took the laws into its own handsand announced the cooked results via the state's radio station Sunday morning. This impunity is condemnable and will be fought to a logical conclusion, using the instrumentality of the law.
While appealing to its members and supporters to remain calm, the party warned against any attempt to provoke the people"who went out peacefully to elect their councillors and Chairman on Saturday."
"Therefore, we demand the immediate announcement of the authentic results and the swearing in of the Chairman, who was elected on the platform of the APC. Nothing else will be acceptable to our party and the people of Offa Local Government,'' the party warned.
Efforts by our correspondent to get the reaction of the PDP proved abortive as the Kwara State Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Mas'ud Adepimbe, did not answer calls put through to him through his mobile telephone.Also the State Secretary of the party, Mr. Yemi Afolayan, said he could not make comments as he was not in the right place to answer calls.