Laide Raheem, Abeokuta, with agency report

The Court of Appeal in Abuja has upheld the victory of Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

A three-man panel of the court, led by Justice Stephen Adah, in a unanimous judgement, dismissed the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate in the election, Kolapo Olusola’s appeal, for lacking in merit.

The court upheld the January 28 judgement of the Ekiti State Election Tribunal, which sat in Abuja, owing to problem of insecurity in the state.

Justice Adah described Olusola’s appeal as “unmeritorious.”

The Independent National Electoral Commission had declared that Fayemi and his party, the APC, polled 197, 459 votes, to defeat Olusola and the PDP, who placed second with 178,121 votes in the July 14, 2018 election.

Meanwhile, Fayemi Fayemi has congratulated former Lagos State Governor and APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on his 67th birthday.

In a personal tribute to Tinubu, the governor described him as the leading light of progressive politics in the country, a fact which he said critics of the APC leader usually acknowledge.

He said: “Like a colossus in the jungle of life, your ability to identify, nurture and engage talents is unequalled.

“Your life has been a testimony of human capital development in an unrelenting struggle for a better life. Even your political detractors secretly admire your courage, vibrancy, intelligence, ebullience, kind-heartedness, warmth and sagacity.

“I will forever cherish the memory of our struggles for the enthronement and sustenance of democracy and good governance in Nigeria.

Also, Osun State Chapter of the APC has congratulated Tinubu on his birthday.

“What makes this moment worthy of celebration is the quality of the series of achievements that the Jagaban of Borgu has made in less than four decades, from a local hero to a huge national figure, the party said.”

In Ogun State, the governor-elect Dapo Abiodun, received his Certificate of Return from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), yesterday.

Abiodun, accompanied by his deputy to the certificate presentation event, Noimot Salako-Oyedele, who had earlier received her own certificate, stormed the state headquarters of INEC in Magbon, Abeokuta, with scores of party leaders, supporters and loyalists.

In his remarks after receiving his certificate from the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Professor Abdul-Ganiyu Olayinka, the governor-elect said presentation of the certificate of return signalled formal and conclusive end of the governorship poll in the state.

He stated that the victory at the poll was neither that of his party,  the All Progressives Congress (APC) nor that of his own,  but that of the Ogun State people,  who a defied the odds to lay the foundation for the certificate presentation ceremony.