Monday, June 30, 2014 8:42 pm
Abuja – The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said the outcome of the June 21 governorship election in Ekiti State showed that democracy had taken firm roots in the country.
Mr Olisa Metuh, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, stated this at a news conference in Abuja on Monday.
Metuh said result offered great lessons and showed that the people could make informed leadership choices given free and fair atmosphere.
This, he said, the Federal Government had continued to provide.
He commended the people of Ekiti state for the overwhelming support and the flurry of felicitations that had continued to pour in for the PDP and its candidate, Mr Ayodele Fayose from well-meaning Nigerians.
He commended outgoing Gov. Kayode Fayemi of the APC who lost to the election to PDP candidate and conceded defeat by congratulating Fayose.
He, however, attributed the PDP’s landslide to the incontrovertible popularity and acceptability of Fayose over his opponents.
This, he said, was essentially the basis of the genuineness of the unprecedented crowd that attended Fayose’s rallies before the election.
“This shows that the APC was not really on ground and lacked the support of the people.”
He added that the insistence of party’s National Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu on due process and strict adherence to principles of internal democracy, were other reasons PDP won the election.
“This was the kernel of transparency in the conduct of the party’s governorship primary, which led to the emergence of a popular candidate for the election.”
He also attributed the victory to President Goodluck Jonathan’s respect and strict adherence to the independence and supremacy of the party.
Another reason he said was the party`s ability to effectively communicate its unique selling points and the major difference between its content and character and those of the other parties to Nigerians.
He maintained that the party had given Nigerians a level playing ground to canvass opinion and aspire to the highest position irrespective of ethnic, religious and gender consideration in the PDP.
“The effective communication of this bold line between the PDP and other parties enabled the people of Ekiti State to make informed choice regarding the platform their governor must come from.
“They chose the platform known for its democratic stance upon which their rights and privileges will be guaranteed within the ambits of the laws.’’
He held that the electoral freedom enjoyed by people was made possible by the heavy security presence in the state during the poll.
“We noted some displeasing comments on security situation during the Ekiti election.
“Informed political stakeholders cannot but agree that but for the level of security provided, the good people of Ekiti would not have enjoyed the electoral freedom that characterised the entire process.’’
He commended Jonathan for his consistent commitment to institute a legacy of credible elections and for firmly entrenching democratic ethics in the country.
This he noted had continued to impact on the performance of INEC and security agencies at elections.
Metuh thanked the people of the state and Nigerians in general for the support they continued to give the PDP.
He assured supporters of the party that it was marching on with new spirit to Osun State governorship election slated for Aug. 9, with an equally popular candidate in the person of Iyiola Omisore.
“With the overwhelming support of the people of Osun state, our victory in the Aug. 9 election is also guaranteed.
“The PDP as the only national party with the highest electoral followership in all the wards across the country will continue to grow stronger.’’
Metuh maintained that the PDP would always remain committed to the welfare and prosperity of Nigerians.
/NAN
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