Osun State Govenor Rauf Aregbesola has braced all odds to secure a second term in a critical election that has affirmed the relative commitment of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to the sanctity of the ballot box. Group Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU writes on the lessons of the poll.
For seven and half hours, there was suspense at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) office on Gbogan-Osogbo Road, Osogbo, the Osun State capital. That was between 12 midnight on Saturday and 7.30 on Sunday, when the people anxiously waited for the announcement of the final result of the governorship election by the Chief Returning Officer, Prof. Bamitale Omole, the Vice Chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife.
Hours before the Local Government Collation Officers (CO) returned to the INEC office from 30 local governments, there were jubilations in many parts of the state, particularly Osogbo, Ede, Iwo, Ejigbo, and Ilesa. Based on the reports of the All Progressives Congress (APC) agents, party chieftains were also in celebration mood. But, the celebration of the governor’s victory was suspended, following the delay by the university don.
At 1.51 am, Omole, who was accompanied by the INEC National Commissioner, Ambassador Mohammadu Wali, the National Commissioners for Election Operations, Nuhu Yakubu, Osun State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) Olusegun Agbaje and his Ondo State counterpart, Akin Orebiyi, begun to receive the results from the local governments. As the COs begun to submit the results one after the other, there was no panic and no eyebrow was raised by any of the political parties’ representatives. However, tension rose when it took Omole a long time to announce the winner.
Party leaders from far and near bombarded the electoral agency with phone calls and text messages. Suddenly, the rumour of likely malpractice and distortion of the final result at the final collation spread like a wild fire. Many had kept vigil as they were glued to television sets monitoring the collation. Sources said that Aregbesola, who had returned to the Government House, Osogbo from Ilesa, where he had gone to cast his vote, was restless. At the APC Situation Room, a party chieftain shouted: “I suspect a foul play. It appears that they wanted to rig the election, even at this stage.” Nobody could assuage that shared fear.
When the rumour spread to the final collation centre that midnight, many people were enveloped in anxiety. Reporters, security agents, party agents and others were discussing in hush tones. “Is it true that there is an order from above putting the announcement on hold,” a party chieftain asked some reporters. There was no answer. One of the chieftains of a smaller party alleged that a notable Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gladiators from the Southeast had advised the Federal Government to deploy more troops to curtail any violent reaction, if the PDP candidate, Senator Iyiola Omisore, was declared winner. The allegation could not be substantiated. But, a misleading statement in the social media by a former minister that PDP chieftains and followers were also celebrating victory heightened the tension.
The APC agent at the collation centre, Hon. Oladosu Rasak, was worried by the turn of events. He noted that the submission of results by 30 LGA COs could take time because of the distance between some local government headquarters and the state capital. But, he said the delay in final collation was suspicious. Asked to react to the allegation that the loser may be declared the winner, he said: “I have had that too, but how it can be possible is what I don’t know.” Another APC chieftain, Ajibola Famurewa, a member of the House of Representatives, said: “At this stage, it is too late to rig. We will wait for the pronouncement by the chief returning officer.” But, Information Commissioner Hon. Sunday Akere, was confident that the verdict will not be aborted. “We have voted and the people have decided. We know the result already. We are only here for validation and affirmation by the INEC,” he said.
Around 7 a.m, reporters and party agents were running out of patience. “All we are saying, give us the result,” they chorused in protest. The RO was not indifferent to their protest. Urging them to exercise more patience, he said: “I thank you for your patience. Give me two minutes to round up and announce the result.”
The OAU Vice Chancellor was conscious of his historic duty. The work of a Returning Officer is sensitive. Apparently, he scholar was not unaware of the suspicion of the INEC by stakeholders. He wanted to make sure that the final collation was neatly done and right figures were released. The old teacher shunned the calculator and opted for manual calculation. Omole did not request for any assistance from mathematicians and statisticians from the OAU and the University of Ibadan who were Local Government COs. The manual calculation was done for almost three and half hours. During that suspense, anxiety and tension had brew. The announcement of Aregbesola as the winner by Omole doused the tension in seconds.
Aregbesola’s vicroty became the PDP’s nightmare. The party had invested much in the exercise. Party chieftains, including the candidate, Omisore, the Minister of Police Affairs, Jelili Adesiyan, Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, and South West PDP Contact and Mobilisation Committee Chairman Buruji Kashamu, were full of bravado. Unable to reconcile expectation with reality, the PDP agent at the collation centre, Hon. Bolu Ajao, was downcast. When the Chief Returning Officer asked him to sign the result sheet, he refused. “We have notified the commission about the lapses in the election. We have issue with the integrity of the process. Our candidate is in the best position to take an appropriate action,” he told reporters.
According to the result, the governor, who won convincingly in 22 local governments, scored 394,684 votes, beating his main challenger, Omisore, who polled 292,747 and second runner-up, Fatai Akinbade, who got 8,898. Omisore won in eight councils. The analysis confirmed the two-party pattern in Osun State and underscored the weakness of smaller parties merely warming the INEC register. But, the outcome of the poll also has implications for 2015 general elections. If this pattern is sustained, the PDP may dislodge some APC legislators in the House of Assembly and the National Assembly in next year’s election.
For Aregbesola, the road to victory was laced with thorns. Ahead of the poll, the PDP, basking in the euphoria of its victory in Ekiti State, boasted that the governor’s days in office were numbered. The campaigns were hot and chaotic in some areas. Lies and fabrications were reeled out on the podium by the opposition to discredit the government and get a upper hand. The idea of stomach infrastructure also came on the front burner, with the PDP chieftains urging prospective voters to ignore performance and embrace transient cash gifts and foodstuffs. The governor was portrayed as a reckless administrator who had plunged the state into debt. Many PDP chieftains also incited civil servants, motor cyclists, artisans and peasants against him, saying that he was their lives would be in jeopardy in his second term.
Omisore also relied on the federal might. Under the pretext of maintaining order, soldiers were deployed to Osun. The PDP flag bearer copied the style of his Ekiti State counterpart, Ayodele Fayose, by going populist. He rode on okada to rallies and bought roasted corn and banana on the road, projecting himself as the man to beat. Few days to the poll, former Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola, a defector from the PDP to the PDP, put spanner into his calculation. Describing Omisore as incompetent, he warned the people against voting for an ex-Agodi Prison detainee.
Aregbesola ran an issue-oriented campaign. His strength lied in his achievements, power of ideas and courage. In every local government, he pointed at development projects completed by his administration. He said he needed a second a term to consolidate his service delivery to 30 local governments.
Many observers pointed out that the poll was largely free and fair. Throughout the state, only results from three polling booths were disputed. The Collation Officers cancelled them and notified the REC. Thus, many party leaders hailed the electoral commission for their commitment to the sanctity of the ballot box. However, selected party agents had an axe to grind with the INEC on poll day. They complained that they were not allowed to monitor voting by INEC officials and security agents, owing to their lack of identification tags. To douse the anxiety, Agbaje, directed that some officials to issue the tags to the affected agents. The REC later explained to reporters that the non-issuance of tags to the agents was not deliberate. Agbaje said: “ I have received calls from party leaders on the complaint. Many party agents did not show up with their tags. They did not go to the polling booths with tags. We have directed that the specific electoral officer should return to the INEC Office to release the tags to them.”
From 8 am to 4pm, movement was restricted across the state. Nature was kind to the State of Living Springs. The weather was benevolent. Voters stormed polling units for accreditation without fear of intimidation by thugs. Owing to the huge turnout, accreditation could not be completed at noon. However, prospective voters who came late were not allowed to join the queue by polling officers and security agents. Ahead of the poll, sensitive and non-sensitive polling materials had been deployed to the local governments by INEC. Unlike the controversial 2007 poll, there were no complaints about shortage of voting materials, late coming by polling officers, absence of accreditation materials, lack of voters’ register and harassment and molestation of voters by security agents. Also, there was no case of ballot snatching by thugs. Unlike the eve of the election, when APC leaders were harassed and arrested by policemen, there was respite on poll day. The only chieftain who was harassed was former Governor Isiaka Adeleke. But, when police invaded his polling unit at Ede, he escaped being arrested. Therefore, he could not vote. His aides were not lucky as they were arrested and taken to Osogbo.
The pre-election experience of some APC chieftains created doubts about the possibility of a credible poll. Alarmed at the massive presence of soldiers, Aregbesola cried out that the PDP wanted to stage a civilian coup, adding that the state is under the siege of the gun. It was an understatement. No fewer than 50 chieftains and supporters were arrested and detained. Among them were the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Hon. Wale Afolabi, his Ministry of Agriculture counterpart, Wale Adedoyin, Mr. Tijani Oladosun and party supporters. Another chieftain, Hon. Bamisaye, a legislator from Ilesa, had to run into the bush to escape arrest.
Bamisaye, who spoke with reporters on phone, said that “hired policemen had chased APC members into the bush in Ijesa area”. He added: “I can’t reveal where I am now. I escaped into the bush. Many of our leaders are in the bush; wounded. We don’t know whether they are policemen or fake police.”
Adedoyin, who was released around 11.30 am, said the arrest of party leaders was unfortunate. Narrating his ordeal, he said: “Around 9.15 pm, some people were banging my gate in my house at Ilesa.They said I should open the gate. I reported to the SSS. The SSS said that I should not open. After 15 minutes, one of them jumped the fence into my house. They said that, if I don’t open my door, they will blow up my house. They said they wanted to interrogate me at their office in Osogbo.”
During the door-to door campaign by the APC, party followers were educated on how to handle the ballot papers, to avoid another “photocromic” experience. Former APC Interim National Chairman Chief Bisi Akande objected to the decision by some INEC staff to stop voters from folding the ballot papers after voting. He said they had the constitutional right to do so. Akande addded: “Voters are at liberty to fold the ballot box before dropping it. A voter can even put the ballot paper inside his pocket and refuse to drop it” Akande also berated the security agents for molesting APC supporter.
Decrying the arrest, Aregbesola said that it was part of the flawed process that heralded the poll. “The problem is not with the people, but with the institutions charged with the conduct of the election. The crackdown on APC leaders was unwarranted. They were molested, brutalised and incarcerated. Osun is under the siege of the gun. What does the Federal Government want? Do they want to force their candidate on the people or they want the people to exercise their right to vote. They want to stage a civilian coup in Osun.”
