Victorious Fayemi Calls For Electoral Offences Tribunal

ABUJA, Oct 18, (THEWILL) - Victorious Dr. Kayode Fayemi, newly installed governor of Ekiti State has called for the setting up of Election Offences Tribunals to punish electoral offenders as a way of checking the menace in the country.

The call was to underscore the state of his mind after an agonizing three-year legal battle to reclaim his mandate from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)'s Segun Oni. Speaking to reporters shortly after he received his certificate of return from the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega at the commission's headquarters in Abuja, Dr Fayemi of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) said the National Assembly should consider the option very seriously.

However, an obviously joyous Fayemi speaking on the receipt of his certificate of return said: “I have now received the final seal of approval. I won the judicial stamp on Friday, I won the constitutional stamp on Saturday and I have received the final stamp by the authority. This is a new beginning for electoral integrity in Nigeria. It signals the fact that Nigerians are determined that never again will Nigerians allow people who were never elected to be imposed on them. The struggle must continue and we must be committed that one man, one vote counts.”

Victory he said is even sweeter after a long struggle adding that; " It is not just a new dawn for Ekiti State but also for the INEC. What we won in Ekiti was for democracy and justice.

"This is an indication that a new Nigeria is possible. I know that a new Nigeria is possible. I know that Nigeria will go places. This is an opportunity for me to rededicate myself to the fight for a better Nigeria. We will do everything to ensure that never again will any body who is never elected be imposed on Nigerians" the governor said.

Earlier in his brief remark, the Chairman of INEC, Professor Attahiru Jega congratulated the governor and promised that “we as a commission would be guided by the good decisions of the courts and would be guided by the rule of law in the discharge of its duties.”

The governor was accompanied to INEC headquarters by the Deputy Governor, Mrs. Funmilayo Olayinka, the National Chairman and National Secretary of the Action Congress of Nigeria, Chief Bisi Akande and Dr Usman Bugaje respectively.