Osun bye-election: APC, PDP chieftains confident of parties’ victory
Chieftains of the APC and PDP, the two leading parties contesting in the Osun West bye-election, have expressed confidence that their respective parties would win the election.
Speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) shortly after casting his vote at about 9 am at Ward 4, Unit 5, Gbongan Polling Unit, Ayedade Local Government Area, APC chieftain, Mr Ismaila Alagbada, said the party had left no stone unturned in ensuring its victory.
“Our party had taken all necessary steps and our expectation is victory. we expect nothing short of victory,’’ Alagbada, the Osun Commissioner for Commerce, Trade and Co-operatives, said.
Mr Dotun Babayemi, another APC chieftain in Gbongan, also said he was confident his party’s candidate, Sen. Mudashiru Hussein, would win the Osun West Senatorial seat.
Babayemi said this at St. Peter, Otun Balogun Ward 2, Unit One, where he did his accreditation and also voted.
“We are very confident the APC and its candidate will be successful.
“ Our party had launched series of campaign in the town and the entire local government to create awareness for this election,’’ he said.
In his own assessment of the election, Sen. Akinlabi Olasunkanmi, a one-term PDP senator and former Minister of Youth Development, said the bye-election would favour the PDP.
Olasunkanmi, who voted at Ward 5 Unit 16, in Ode-Omu, Ayedade Local Government Area , however, expressed the hope that there would not be voters’ apathy.
He urged INEC to remain independent and neutral to ensure a credible poll.
” If there is a level playing ground, I am quite confident our party’s candidate will be elected senator,’’ he said.
NAN reports that all the party chieftains, however, agreed that the ongoing election was orderly and peaceful.
They lauded INEC for the new system of accreditation and voting, saying with the process, voters spend less than two minutes to get accredited and cast their votes.
They were all of the opinion that the process had encouraged a high turnout of voters for the election.
The election was prompted by the death on April 23 of Sen. Isiaka Adeleke, who was representing the district at the Senate.
Although 12 political parties are contesting in the bye- election, the two major contenders are the PDP and APC.
The younger brother of late Adeleke, Ademola, is the candidate of PDP while Mudashiru Husein, who represented the district between 2011 and 2014, is the candidate of APC.
