Like a torrent, congratulatory messages poured into Alagbaka Government House yesterday as news filtered in that the Supreme Court has upheld the gubernatorial primary which produced Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu as valid.

The news which spread like fire was received with wild jubilation by party chieftains who popped wine to congratulate the governor.

A former speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly, Victor Olabimtan hailed the judgement which established “One fact that Akeredolu won the primary and by the grace of God is the governor of Ondo State today.”

However, he described the victory as no victor, no vanquished as everybody would work together to move the state forward.

Olabimtan disclosed that Akeredolu would extend his hand of fellowship to “his brother and my own elder brother, Segun Abraham” in the interest of peace and progress and everybody would come together as brothers and sisters in the interest of the party and development of the state.

He added that the judgement would further strengthen the peace and unity in the party as everybody would come and work together to move the party forward.

“What people should learn from this judgement is that, we should not take law into our hands. Segun Abraham did not take law into his hand, but he decided to go to court to ventilate his grievances. Judgement has been given, and to me, no victor, no vanquished. No loser, we are all winners as far as this case is concerned. What are we fighting for? All of us want to make Ondo State a state that all of us can be proud of. To me, we will move forward from here”, Olabimtan emphasised.

He equally said the judgement would make all members to work together to ensure victory for the APC in the Saturday House of Assembly election in the state.

In a related development, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Mobilisation and Political Matters, Mr. Olatunji Ifabiyi has described the Supreme Court judgement in favour of the governor over the legal battle between him and the All Progressives Congress (APC) member, Mr. Segun Abraham as a good omen and victory for democracy.

He said the victory of the governor over the long battle on governorship primary election that produced him as the candidate of the party is a welcome development

Ifabiyi said with the judgement, the judiciary has proved itself as the last hope of the common man.

According to him,” right from the beginning of the case, it was realised that the case lacked merit, and it was clear that we had transparent governorship primary election that produced the governor as the candidate of the party.

He thanked God for vindicating the governor and giving him opportunity to pursue the case patiently in a civil way.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday in Abuja struck out the suit filed by Abraham challenging Akeredolu’s victory at the 2016 APC governorship primary in the state.

SOURCE: https://citadelng.com/akeredolus-victory-olabimtan-hails-judgement/