The governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Ekiti State, Dare Abejide, has decried the election, calling it a “bad day for democracy”.

Abejide made the allegation on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, where he said the poll, which gave Governor Biodun Oyebanji a fresh four year mandate, was marred by vote-buying and intimidation.

He said, “First, it was a very bad election. Yesterday was a very bad day for democracy in the state of. It was a day when democracy took off from Ekiti State.

“It was a day when the polling units, especially my polling booth, became a political market place where votes were sought, sold and bought by politicians. “It was a day when the security agents abandoned their duties and joined the side of the oppressor.”

Abejide also accused the ruling party of exploiting the poor to win voters.

“The government of the day has weaponised poverty and that makes it so easy for them to buy votes,” he added.

It had earlier reported that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) pronounced Oyebanji of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winner of the election in the 16 local government areas of the state.

INEC said Oyebanji got 319,224 votes to defeat the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Oluwole Oluyede, who got 40,543 votes while Abejide got 12,872 votes.

Abejide also argued that the exercise was rigged. “It was like a battleground. I think it was something that was just fed into the computers.

On being asked about his next move, the ADC candidate said he would consult the party members before deciding about further course of action.

One of them is to ask advice from my party members. We are still collating results from all the polling units. “We will review the results and take appropriate action,” he said.