PLATEAU: PDP’s Useni rejects Lalong’s victory, vows to ‘reclaim mandate’

Yet another candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is set to fight to reclaim his ‘stolen’ mandate.

This is as the governorship candidate of the PDP in Plateau, Jeremiah Useni, has rejected the results of the March 9 and 23 polls which saw incumbent Governor Simon Lalong of the All Progressive Congress (APC) emerge as winner.

The results were announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Returning Officer in the state, Prof. Richard Kimbir, on Sunday.

After the supplementary poll held on Saturday, Lalong polled a total of 595,582 votes to defeat 23 other candidates, including the PDP’s Jeremiah Useni, who scored 546,813 to come second.

READ ALSO: SOKOTO: Gov Tambuwal wins re-election with 341 votes

However, Useni, while addressing a press conference in Jos on Sunday, rejected the results which he described as “an injustice and a temporary setback.”

According to him, the results of the governorship election as announced by INEC did not reflect the voting pattern of the people whom he claimed voted for him “massively” at the poll.

Useni insists that he and his party have decided to head to the tribunal to reclaim the mandate freely given to them by the people.

He said, “My team and I have gone through both the official results released by INEC and the documents submitted by our own field staff.

“We have every reason to believe that justice has not been done to our people in this election because there was massive rigging and electoral shortcomings.

“After due consultation, I hereby state that the results announced by INEC is not acceptable to us. Consequently, we have requested our legal team to activate all the due processes to reclaim our cherished mandate at the tribunal and by the grace of God, we will overturn and recover the people’s mandate”

The PDP candidate thanked party members, stakeholders and supporters for their commitment, hard work and sacrifices throughout the election period and urged them to remain united and focused in the struggle until “the restoration agenda for the soul of Plateau State is achieved.”

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