The Social Democratic Party (SDP) has rejected the results of Saturday’s local government election in Ondo State, labelling it “broad daylight robbery.”

The election, conducted by the Ondo State Independent Electoral Commission (ODIEC), took place across 18 local government areas (LGAs) and 203 wards. Despite participation from 12 political parties, voter turnout was reportedly low, attributed to the heavy presence of armed security personnel.

ODIEC declared the All Progressives Congress (APC) winners of all chairmanship and councillorship seats in the state. However, SDP Chairman Ebenezer Akinbuli, addressing journalists in Akure on Monday, described the election as a sham, alleging irregularities, harassment and bias in favour of the APC.

“We are condemning the outcome of the election because it lacked compliance with the rules. It was broad daylight robbery,” Akinbuli claimed, calling for its cancellation.

He claimed that in areas such as Ondo East and Odigbo LGAs, there were no security personnel at polling units, forcing SDP members to provide security themselves, which contributed to the low voter turnout.

Akinbuli also accused ODIEC of collusion with the APC, citing incidents of pre-thumb-printed ballot papers and improper result collation.

“Presiding officers weren’t given proper result sheets but blank sheets to write results. Collation wasn’t done at centres but at ODIEC’s office,” he alleged.

The SDP chairman recounted witnessing the assault of an SDP candidate in Ondo East and called for the removal of the ODIEC chairman, accusing him of overseeing an electoral process riddled with fraud. He vowed to challenge the results at the local government election tribunal.

Efforts to reach the ODIEC chairman for comments were unsuccessful.

Meanwhile, ODIEC on Monday presented Certificates of Return to the 18 elected chairmen and their deputies.

ODIEC chairman, Dr Joseph Aremo, commended the electorate for their commitment to democracy, urging the winners to justify the confidence reposed in them.

Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa described the election as a step towards enhancing grassroots development, while Akure South chairman-elect, Dr Gbenga Fasua, pledged to fulfil campaign promises.