Former governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, has alleged that there was over-voting at the South West zonal congress of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) held in Osun State, on Monday.
He, however, said his camp decided to overlook the over-voting in the interest of the party.
Amb. Taofeek Arapaja, the candidate backed by the loyalists of Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, polled 343 votes to emerge as new South West National Vice Chairman of PDP on Monday.
Dr Eddy Olafeso backed by the camp of ex-Governor Ayo Fayose got a total of 330 votes.
Fayose, who had said he would accept the outcome of the election in a series of tweets late Monday night, added that: “Like I said in my speech at the beginning of the congress that we should win together and we have indeed won together.”
“Whatever may be our reservations on the issue of over-voting, we have chosen to look at the larger picture, which is the PDP.
“We must therefore use our energy and resources to rebuild the party.
“Arapaja’s 343 and Olafeso’s 330 votes, has simply shown strength on the two sides, this should be explored by the party, going forward.
“I thank the National Working Committee (NWC) for helping to bring this congress behind us,” Fayose tweeted.
Meanwhile, Makinde has described the congress as peaceful and orderly.
Speaking on the congress via a post on his Twitter handle, the governor congratulated Arapaja, saying the process of repositioning the party has commented.
“Congratulations to Ambassador Taofeek Arapaja and other officials duly elected today. Our task of repositioning the @OfficialPDPNig begins now. I thank every participant as well as the organising committee of the PDP South-West Congress for a peaceful and orderly congress,” Makinde tweeted.
Earlier, Makinde and Fayose had promised to accept whoever emerged from Monday’s contest.
They both stated this during their opening addresses at the congress.
