By Jamiu Yisa
Peoples Democratic Party candidate in last Saturday’s Ifako/Ijaiye Federal Constituency by-election held in Lagos, Babatope Akinyele, has blamed his defeat in the election to the rancour and division within his party.
Akinyele while speaking during an interview, added that he did well in the election but the support rendered by his party was not enough.
According to him,“I did well in the election but the only challenge was the strength of the party behind me. It was me against the ruling party. The support of my party too was not as it should have been.
“We have a divided house in Lagos PDP, and when a house is divided against itself, it cannot stand, and there is no way it can win an election,” he laments
Speaking on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) conducts during the election, Akinyele said,“The electoral body, with what I saw, was neutral and I did not see any bias from them.
“INEC has improved and the way and manner it conducted the election was good, judging from my analyses of the results polling unit by polling unit. There is no reason I should not congratulate the winner.
“Our politics should be devoid of violence and should not be a do-or-die affair, if we want to ever achieve our dream of a better Nigeria,” he said.