The Ondo State Governor-elect, Chief Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN), has commended his opponents at the last governorship election in the state for accepting the result of the election in good faith.
The time allowed by law to file petitions at the Election Petitions Tribunal to challenge the poll result lapsed on Sunday, December 18, 2016, which was 21 days after the announcement of the results of the poll.
No contestant had filed a petition against the winner of the poll as of Sunday.
Akeredolu was declared the winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission after defeating 26 candidates of other political parties in the November 26 poll.
The governor-elect, who spoke with journalists on Tuesday at his hometown in Owo, Owo Local Government Area of Ondo State, believed that the election was free and fair.
He commended the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the election, Mr. Eyitayo Jegede (SAN), and his counterpart in the Alliance for Democracy, Chief Olusola Oke, for displaying good sportsmanship by not challenging the result of the election at the tribunal.
He said, “I have to praise my other contestants, especially, Mr. Eyitayo Jegede and Mr. Olusola Oke. I am sure that they have seen, as senior lawyers, that we are in a position to accept the result of an election.
“Having assess all the parameters, we believe the election was free and fair and I want to believe that their attitude is worthy of note and all of us, at least, should try to emulate that in subsequent elections.”
According to him, with no case at the tribunal, he would be able to concentrate on governance after the swearing-in.
He hailed INEC and the security agencies for the smooth conduct of the election, adding that the electoral commission was moving towards conducting acceptable elections in the country.