If the reports of bruised heads, the intimidation and arrest of opposition party agents, alleged complicity of security agents and protests which characterised the Osun State governorship rerun elections that produced the All Progressives Congress, (APC) candidate, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola are anything to go by, then the credibility of the poll will continue to generate controversy in the years to come.
It still beats the imagination of election observers that the Osun rerun election which was precipitated by the declaration of inconclusive poll last Sunday by the returning officer, Prof. Joseph Fuwape, could produce Oyetola who rose from a deficit of 350 votes to ‘defeat’ Senator Ademola Adeleke with a total votes of 255, 505 to 255,023.
Though about 19 people were arrested for various electoral malpractices, observers said visible allegations of serious electoral crimes dominated the rerun which turned the tide against the PDP candidate in the high staked election.
For instance, policemen deployed to three units in Orolu Local Government of the state, some observers and journalists prevented from casting their votes to the units where the exercises took place.
One of the observers, who identified himself as Adesegun Adaramaja, told newsmen that fierce looking policemen turned back some voters from voting despite the display of their voter’s cards.
At Garage Olode Adereti Village, Unit12, Ward 7, all Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) agents were chased out from the unit by the security agents while state government top officials including stateboys were heavily present at the unit.
Party agents present at the ward were that of ACD, Rasheed Mojeed, APA, Olaiya Yemi, APC, Lateef Abimbola, ADP, Adeyemo Gafar, SDP, and Bayo Shittu while that of PDP was not to be found on ground.
At the units, representatives of the opposition party were intimidated by heavily armed security men who milled around the length and breadth of the unit while massive vote buying was ongoing. The atmosphere was charged and voters in the opposition who managed to vote did so with frightened minds.
Aside the conventional police officers present at the scene, armed soldiers were also noticed at the centre. When asked why the PDP agents were not on ground, the INEC Director of Information and Education, Vulnerable Ojewande Stephen said the question should be directed to the PDP chairman to have reason why his agents are not there.
However, Supervisory Presiding Officer, Femi Kuku, said the exercise was going on well without hitch.
The exercise was also characterised by violence, disorderliness, breakdown of law and order as armed thugs took over the polling units where the voting exercises were held. For instance in Osogbo polling units, Ward 5, Unit 17Alekuwodo, Osogbo, some thugs were armed with cutlasses, local guns, axes, clubs, broken bottles and other dangerous weapons.
The fierce looking hoodlums, who marched round the length and breadth of the unit, had on them marijuana and other hard drugs which they used freely without inference by the policemen.
They threw decorum to the wind and went berserk by chasing away electoral voters including other innocent residents around the unit. As a result of this, there was pandemonium in the town as all passersby including those living in adjourning areas of the polling unit also live n fear.
After a prolonged display of strength by these thugs, another group who were in a retaliatory mission reportedly came out from nowhere and matched the earlier surfaced group strength for strength, weapons for weapons and skills for skills.
However, journalists were not spared by the wrath of the thugs who descended on Osun State Broadcasting Cooperation (OSBC) reporters, Tosin Oladokun, and Kaftan Television crew led by Jude Ochinma who were attacked and molested.
They damaged one of the vehicles belonging to the broadcasting station and injured the crew who were on official assignment to cover the exercise. Also, a Kaftan TV reporter and his crew were allegedly machetted to a coma.
Security agents in the area including military personnel, however, dislodged the suspected thugs who laid siege at Akindeko market but were unable to arrest the culprits.
Speaking on the attack, Osun State Nigeria Union of Journalists(NUJ) Acting Chairman, Kehinde Ayantunji, condemned the attack he described as barbaric, uncivilized, regrettable and condemnable, saying media must not at time be the victim of electoral violence.
He said: “The police intervened swiftly but were unable to apprehend the culprits, who fled when the police stormed the scene of the attack.”
According to Ayantunji, the environment appeared more tensed and called the security agents to double their efforts in protecting the media and other personnel on election duty.
The Nigeria Civil Society Election Situation Room regarding the INEC rerun election corroborated the fact that media election observers were denied access during the early hours of the day. Reports from Orolu, one of the seven units where the rerun was held indicated incidents of intimidation, harassment and arrest of election observers.
Observers and media persons were prevented from entering the local government until intervention of INEC. Political thugs and hoodlum were used to intimidate while security forces stood by failed to act. Violence, gunshots were common around polling units and attacks against supporters of a particular political party being prevented from voting.
Smartcard readers did not verify some PVCs and yet ballot papers were issued and votes allowed to be cast.
“The entire Osun State rerun election derogates from the recent gains made in our elections process and the confidence that was beginning to be built. The lapses in the Osun rerun election have put a serious question mark on the electoral process and raises concerns about the forthcoming 2019 general elections.
“Circumstances which led to the cancellation of the election in the same polling units, including violence repeated themselves, wondering why results obtained under these conditions should be allowed to stand,” the group said.
Also at a polling unit, three persons, a woman and two middle aged men who were allegedly in possession of voter cards belonging to other polling units were arrested by the police. Their arrest came few minutes after a tip off from agents of some political parties who raised alarm over the presence of the persons, whom they accused were not registered voters in the unit.
Also, Osun State Police Command said it has arrested 16 persons who were in possession of customised INEC observers tags, face
caps, jackets and PDP membership cards. The Police Public Relations Officer, Mrs. Folasade Odoro, who made this known in Osogbo, gave the names of the suspects arrested as Moshood Adejare ‘M’ – People’s Democratic Party (PDP) House of Representatives aspirant in Orolu Federal Constituency, Oyelayo Dayo ‘M’- PDP member Orolu LGA,Olaoye Asimi and many others. Curiously, none of the thugs and APC embers from Lagos State who wore foreign observer’s T-shirts to debar PDP members from voting was arrested.
Meanwhile, voting exercise was highly disturbed at Alekuwodo as PDP alleged that majority are them were not allowed to vote in their voting unit while another APC member described the claim as untrue.
President of the Senate and Chairman, PDP Campaign Council on Osun State Governorship election, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, said the supplementary election was a charade and an embarrassment to Nigeria’s democracy. Saraki described it as another “display of the subversion of the will of the Osun people as it was characterised by widespread voter intimidation, violence and harassment.”
“Like I said a few days ago, this needless re-run election was only designed as an avenue for the ruling party to perpetrate electoral fraud. The nature of these elections is an embarrassment to our democracy and casts an alarming pall on the institutions responsible for protecting the will of the Nigerian people as stated through their votes. That was why for more than 10 hours the INEC could not collate and announce results in just seven polling units with just over 2000 votes.”
The PDP in the state described the supplementary election “as the most brazen assault on democracy and biggest robbery ever witnessed in the history of the state.”
The State Chairman, Hon Soji Adagunodo, described it as open robbery perpetrated by the APC, aided by security personnel and will be resisted by the party, because thousands of eligible voters were chased away from their homes in Orolu, Ife North and Ife South Local Governments before the election.
“Scores of our supporters in those local governments were shot and matchetted on their way to polling centres in the full glare of security men. Hundreds of people holding PVCs from other polling units were accredited and allowed to vote in Osogbo and Ife South Local Governments. PDP agent in Olode was axed and abducted at about 7am. Media men and election observers were denied access in several polling units. By the time access was granted to journalists at about 11am, ballot boxes had been stuffed by APC agents acting in connivance with INEC officials
“It is regrettable that elections at seven polling units could not be freely and fairly concluded by the INEC. We reject any returns of results from this sham and call on the INEC authorities in Abuja.
“We equally invite leaders of thought in Nigeria and the international community to rise up now to rescue Nigeria’s democracy from being ruined. We equally call on all members and supporters of our party to resist any attempt to foist a concocted election results on the people of Osun using all legal means at their disposal.”
Also, Senator Ademola Adeleke rejected what he described as the “violent sham operation called supplementary poll.
“We report to the whole world the brazen theft and daylight swindling of Osun people who were criminally denied their rights to vote and be voted for by an anti-people conspiracy among INEC, security agencies and the ruling APC. An unprecedented travesty of justice and shattering democratic values are ongoing in Osun State.
“The whole world is witnessing a charade in the name of election, a deliberate effort at imposition of a discredited leadership on the suffering people of Osun State through undisguised brutal force. By all standards, this supplementary poll is a non-event as all norms of electoral process were violated.
“Voters are deliberately refused access to polling points at gun points. Those allowed at voting centers were forced to vote for APC. PDP party agents are arrested, beaten up and shut out of polling centres. PDP agents were barred from many units. Roads were blocked to stop voters and observers.
“We report to the whole world that in Osun no supplementary poll took place. It was all violence and undisguised breach of all electoral rules. The APC pushed violently to steal people’s mandate freely given by the oppressed people of Osun State.
“We condemn this charade; we reject this violent operations called election. We dissociate ourselves from this brazen shame and sham election. We stand on the mandate freely given to Ademola Adeleke. We will uphold the people’s mandate through all legal means. We will not succumb to fascist agents who are hell-bent on plunging the state into chaos. We call on the international community to monitor happenings in Osun State. A major political tragedy is underway with huge consequence for the nation,” he said.
In its own statement, the state chapter of the APC through its spokesperson, Barrister Kunle Oyatomi said his party was satisfied by the result of the election, which he said repserenent the wish of the people. He said “Osun people have spoken.”
In his words: “The PDP was unable to manipulate the result this time around, so they are crying foul. We have always known and have made ourselves clear before the election that the PDP had made elaborate arrangement to rig the election through the manipulation of the card readers and it was this process that made them got the votes, allocated to them in the first ballot.
“Nobody expected the PDP to even come second. Most people in Osun have the belief that it would be a straight fight between the APC and SDP. But as God would have it, Osun was saved from the vultures.
“We like Osun people to understand that the run off votes went the way it did because the PDP was unable to manipulate the card readers this time around and fortunately the police thwarted their plot of buying and trying to use the PVCs of suspecting voters.
“That was why some of their leaders were arrested. So the PDP should look for other excuses. They attempted to win by fraud; they failed in the first round and eventually lost the rerun election.”
But that position was not supported by the observer group, the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), it said it after carefully observing the governorship rerun election in Osun State, it came out with a conclusion that the conduct of some key stakeholders clearly ran contrary to democratic norms and standards, as well as best practices in the conduct of credible elections.
“CDD notes that a number of the incidents recorded during the poll have undermined the sanctity of the vote and the overall credibility of the electoral process.”
Specifically, CDD frowns at the conduct of the security agents as well as political party stalwarts who took steps that were clearly inimical to the conduct of a free, fair and credible election.”
The Director of the CDD, Hassan Idayat said, observers reported several cases of denial of access to polling units to observers, and even voters. She said: “CDD field observers deployed to observe the process and ensure its credibility, especially in Orolu and Osogbo local government areas were intimidated, threatened and in some cases arrested by security forces.
“Credible reports from our field observers showed that despite being duly accredited by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), several of the observers and journalists were stopped from observing the process. CDD observers reported palpable tension in Ifon, Orolu local government areas due to the high-handed conduct of the security agents who seemed bent to sway the vote the way of certain partisan interests.”
International observers led by U.S. Consul General, Mr John Bray, stated: “The missions of the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom observed voting at polling stations in Osun. We witnessed what appeared to be incidences of interference and intimidation of voters and heard reports of harassment of party monitors, journalists and domestic observers.
“We are very concerned by this reports and we’ll be checking with stakeholders to determine the facts. We call on all stakeholders to remain calm,” they said.
The Coalition of United Political Parties expressed worry over the rerun, stating that INEC and the Nigerian secu-rity forces have turned themselves into organs of the APC. “The same INEC that claimed to have cancelled results of some polling units due to disruption watched with collaborative silence as security forces comprising the police, Civil Defence, Federal Road Safety Corps, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Nigeria Immigration Service, Nigeria Customs Service and the Nigerian Army comfortably turned themselves into joint militant wing of the vote-stealing APC.”
In a statement signed by Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, Chairman APP and Spokesman CUPP, the group said “…The deduction of votes from Senator Adeleke, the fictitious adding of votes for Alhaji Oyetola and suspicious declaration of an election adjudged by all INEC accredited observers as the freest and fairest in recent times as inconclusive due to disruptions is akin to INEC discrediting its own process just to please the APC.
“We also remind our fellow countrymen that freedom comes by struggle. Osun is the bridge of our tolerance to this quantum of brigandage by state institutions saddled with the responsibility to ensure credible elections.
“Nigerians now know what President Buhari is planning for the country and we shall be ready to resist his antidemocratic forces. We will resist any move to try this naked dance of shame against our people. Shameless desperate acts like this led to the Electoral crisis of 1983 which had dire consequences for our democracy then.
“We shall be ready to defend our nation’s values and credibility of the electoral process is key. All Nigerians of goodwill are enjoined to raise their voices now and stop this impunity of a failed political party in power. The APC cannot truncate our democracy which they did not suffer for.,” the coalition said.
It stated that beyond the current development, it “shall not tolerate, accept or condone the acts of stealing of the mandate of the people. Osun is the last, it will not happen again,” even as it called on the good people of Osun to remain peaceful as their mandate will be restored by the judiciary.
Source: New Telegraph