"On the Ondo Election" by Segun Showunmi

The verdict is in, and sadly, our party, the Peoples Democratic Party, and our candidate, Eyitayo Jegede, SAN; did not win.

Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN; of the All Progressives Congress has been declared the winner of the October 10, 2020 Ondo State Governorship Election. I congratulate him and his party. May the good people of Ondo be served adequately by their mandate freshly renewed.

When all is said and done, the high level of temporary loyalty purchase that has become a disturbing factor in our elections must call us all to a sober reflection as to the overall cost of elections and the extreme monetisation of democracy. 

Pondering on the overbearing pecuniary component of victory ingredients in elections in Nigeria and the widespread poverty that has given the anomaly a scary potency, there is no better time than now to call for sincere deliberation on this unfortunate situation with a view to reducing the menace to the barest minimum or completely eradicating it in the interest of the nation.

I must commend the good people of Ondo State for the 'sincere' votes given to our candidate, Eyitayo Jegede, SAN. We are grateful for your love. 

To our party faithful, ably led by the Seyi Makinde National Campaign Council, I say well done for all our efforts.

Loyalty to party means we step forward always and give our best to the party whenever the occasion calls for it. That is what makes us responsible party men. 

To our Uche Secondus-led National Working Committee, well done. We are consoled by the Godwin Obaseki victory in Edo. No party can or should imagine it can win all the time. We were outmanoeuvred and outspent. I am sure great lessons must have been learnt and care would be taken in the future to improve on our election management techniques.

Eyitayo Jegede SAN, what a beautiful display of courage, candor, comportment, capacity and character! The contagious love of your people, which they demonstrated all through the campaign, as you crisscrossed Ondo State, should reveal to you how much you are appreciated. 

We are proud of you and we are with you this hour.

We gave it our best and we are satisfied that we stood with a damn good man. 

God bless Ondo State.