By Admin:-.
The Advocate for Citizens’ Justice and Democratic Accountability (ACJDA) has rejected claims by two groups alleging that the results of the recently concluded Osun State Governorship Election were hacked to favour Governor Ademola Adeleke.
In a statement signed by its representative, Comrade Mayowa Ogundijo, the civil society organisation described the alleged claim by the purported Liberation Movement of Nigeria and Vanguard for Human Rights as reckless, unsubstantiated and politically dangerous.
ACJDA said the allegation that the election result declaring Adeleke the winner was “hacked” lacked compelling and independently verifiable evidence, describing the claim as an attempt to discredit the outcome of the election.
The organisation argued that the available facts and figures from the poll did not support the hacking narrative, maintaining that the result reflected the choice of Osun voters.
According to the group, the election was characterised by several alleged attempts to undermine the democratic process, including claims of voters’ cards being unlawfully taken, shootings, intimidation, arrests of political actors and alleged vote-buying in parts of the state.
It specifically cited allegations from areas including Odo-Otin, Boripe, Irewole, Ilesa East, the Ife zone and parts of Osogbo, including Olorunda, while asserting that voters nevertheless turned out to defend their votes.
“The results that produced Governor Adeleke as a winner was not the outcome of hacking operations; it was the supremacy of the people’s will,” the statement said.
ACJDA also rejected suggestions that the election was manipulated at the highest level, pointing to what it described as the resolve of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and relevant electoral institutions to allow the process to follow its constitutional course.
The organisation further recalled calls by some political interests for the election to be declared inconclusive, noting that such pressure did not ultimately alter the electoral process.
It maintained that reports by local and international election observers should form part of any credible assessment of the election, rather than what it described as anonymous allegations and politically motivated narratives.
ACJDA warned that attempts to delegitimise an election because its outcome does not favour a particular political interest could undermine democratic institutions and create unnecessary tension in the state.
The organisation consequently warned the two groups to desist from what it described as the circulation of false, defamatory and inflammatory claims or face appropriate legal action.
It also urged Osun residents not to be distracted or provoked by what it called a “jester coalition” attempting to manufacture controversy after the election.
“Democracy is not a game of propaganda where defeated narratives are resurrected through faceless platforms,” the group said, urging anyone with genuine grievances to pursue them through the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the courts and other constitutionally recognised mechanisms.
The organisation called on citizens to reject attempts to incite violence, assuring that it would continue to scrutinise public institutions, demand accountability and defend citizens’ democratic rights through lawful means.
“The mandate of the people cannot be hacked by propaganda, and Osun must not be dragged into political chaos because some interests refuse to accept reality,” Ogundijo stated.