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Tag: Osun State

  • Osun Decides 2018: PDP rejects INEC’s inconclusive verdict

    The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has rejected the inconclusive verdict delivered by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Saturday’s governorship election in Osun State.

    The party has insisted that the process was conclusive and that its candidate, Senator Ademola Adeleke, who won a total of 254, 698 votes was in clear lead and should be immediately declared winner by INEC, having met the requirements of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

    At a media briefing in Abuja on Sunday, the spokesman for the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, said that Section 179 (2) (a)(b) of the 1999 Constitution, (as amended), was clear and very unambiguous in spelling out the conditions for returning a candidate to the office of governor of a state.

    Quoting from the said Section, the PDP said, “A candidate for an election to the office of Governor of a State shall be deemed to have been duly elected where, there being two or more candidates – (a) he has the highest number of votes cast at the election; and (b) he has not less than one-quarter of all the votes cast in each of at least two-thirds of all the local government areas in the State”.

    The main opposition party insisted that the declaration by INEC of the election as inconclusive, was a “sordid robbery” of the franchise of the people of Osun State, who participated in the election.

    Continuing, the PDP said, “It is obvious that having failed in their schemes to alter the final results due to the resistance of the people, the APC had to bear pressure on INEC to declare the election inconclusive so as to pave way for the perfection of their manipulative schemes, which the people of Osun state have firmly resisted so far.

    Read Also: Updated: INEC declares Osun governorship election inconclusive

    “Instead of yielding to the evil machination of the APC, INEC should have summoned the patriotic courage to immune itself and end this needless controversy by returning the PDP and declare our candidate as the winner.

    “It is instructive to state that the PDP will no longer accept inconclusive elections as subterfuge by the APC attain its dubious electoral manipulative schemes in our nation.

    “The people of Osun state and the entire nation are already aware that the PDP won this election. They have the authentic figures from the polling units and know the candidate the voters prefer.

    “The people, by their votes, have overwhelmingly declared for our candidate and we are not ready to accept any attempt by anybody to use any means whatsoever to steal our mandate freely given by the people.

    “The PDP is for peace, but we will not hesitate to use every force available in a democracy to face any attempt to subvert the will of the people or rig us out in this election”

    The party charged the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu to avoid the fury of the people by immediately reversing what it described as a “fraudulent” decision by the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) and declaring its candidate the winner of the election.

    “Anything short of this is definitely not acceptable to the PDP and the people of Osun and it is a direct recipe for crisis.

    “Finally, the PDP cautions INEC and the APC to note that the game is up. The people of Osun state have decided in favour of the PDP and that has become a fact that can never be altered”, the party added.

  • Impressive turnout of voters

    The Osun State governorship election witnessed massive turnout yesterday.

    The election in which 48 political parties had participated started at exactly 8.00 am in many polling units in the 30 council areas of the state.

    Electoral materials and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials arrived many polling centers visited by our correspondent before 8.00 am.

    Reports showed the exercise was peaceful as there was no record of violence in many polling units across the state.

    Turnout was impressive in Ilesa, the homestead of the incumbent governor Rauf Aregbesola.

    The governor, who arrived Ilesa around 11.00 am, drove straight to his family house in Ogbon Arogbo, Ifofin in Ilesa East Local Government area of the state.

    Alongside his wife, Serifat, the governor came out to vote at Ward 8 Unit 1 Ifofin polling booth around 11.50 am after accreditation.

    He spoke with reporters shortly, describing the conduct of the election as peaceful.

    Aregbesola, who commended voters for trooping and conducting themselves in a decent manner, said reports reaching him from all parts of the state show that the exercise was going on well.

    He expressed hope that voters will sustain their peaceful disposition to the election.

    The Presiding Officer in Ward 8 Unit 1 Ifofin, Saheed Lawal, said all electoral materials arrived on time, adding that accreditation and voting commenced immediately at 8.00 am.

    According to him, the polling booths split into two have 818 registered voters.

    Our correspondent reported that voting exercise was peaceful in many polling centers within Ilesa East and Ilesa West local government areas, including Ward 1 unit 8, Ward 2 unit 2, Ward 7 unit 1, Ward 7 unit 6 and Ward 8 unit 1.

    Voters got to polling centers, including Unit 13 Ward 4 Fagbewesa in Osogbo, the state capital, Unit 6 Ward 5 Ikire, Unit 4 Ward 4, Unit 1 Ward 9 Ikire, Unit 5 Ward 4 Iragbiji, Wards 10 and 12 Lagere in Ife, Ward 5 Units 2A and 2B Ikire, Ward 6 Units 9A and 9B, to carry out their civic responsibilities.

    In some of the polling units visited in Ilesha and Ile-Ife, majority of the voters came to the polling units with their smart phones but security agents did not allow them to take the gadgets to the voting cubicles.

    A domestic election observer, Jimmy George, commended security agents for preventing voters from using their phones to to avoid vote buying.

  • Osun polls: Oyetola, Adeleke in tight race

    Early returns from the  Osun State governorship election last night indicated a tight race between the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Mr. Isiaka Oyetola and Senator Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Oyetola had the upper hand in 13 of the 30 local government areas, according to results handed over to party agents at the various polling stations by INEC.

    Adeleke trailed in the second position after winning in 11 LGAs while Senator Iyiola Omisore of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) was the preferred candidate in only four LGAs.

    Alhaji Moshood Adeoti of the Action Democratic Party (ADP) secured only two LGAs.

    The official result is to be released by INEC.

    Each of the leading candidates won in his unit and local government area.

    Oyetola won in Boripe, Adeleke in Ede, Omisore in Ile Ife and Adeoti in Iwo.

    It was however a bad outing for Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, a former governor of the State and the prime mover of the Olusegun Obasanjo-inspired African Democratic Party’s (ADC) candidate, Alhaji  Fatai Akinbade, lost in Oyinlola’s ward at Okuku.

    Don’t tamper with our winning results – PDP

    Moment after the close of voting yesterday, the Ademola Adeleke Campaign Organisation issued a statement warning against manipulation of the results of the poll.

    The will of the people must be respected, it said in the statement by its Director of Publicity, Mr. Olawale Rasheed.

    He said: “as results are been collated across the state, we demand utmost fair play and transparency from the electoral body.

    “We are watching and monitoring closely. Under no circumstance should the collation process be manipulated.

    “Our agents and leaders are on their toes armed with relevant results and forms. The will of the people must be respected.

    “We task INEC and security agencies to obey the directive of President Muhammad Buhari who had ordered that the Osun electoral process should never be manipulated by federal or any related agencies.

    “We call on local and international observers to take note of the ongoing process and assist the people of Osun state to realise the supremacy of their electoral will.

    “Our people should also be ever vigilant to protect their votes and their aspirations for better life.”

    Voters turn out high

    Voters’ turn out for the election was generally high across the state.

    Security was also tight to discourage disruption of the election and to apprehend violators of the electoral process.

    Accreditation and voting commenced at about 8 am simultaneously in many polling units

    In Osogbo, the state capital, many of the residents had trooped to their polling units as early as 6.am.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) said more than 300 voters were on the queue  at Osunbukola Ward 10 Unit 003 Polling Unit in Egbedore LGA by the time voting got underway.

    There were also some policemen and NSCDC personnel at the polling unit.

    The Accreditation Officer at the unit, Mashood Samson, said  the exercise was hitch-free with the card readers working perfectly.

    An official of the Transition Monitoring Group, Dr Abiola Afolabi, told NAN the exercise in the units visited was orderly.

    At the Ward 5 Unit 1 Polling Unit in Osogbo Local Government, more than 300 voters were on the queue for accreditation and voting which started at 8.10.am.

    An international observer from the National Democratic Institute who simply identified herself as Miss Courtney said the exercise so far had been transparent, an assessment corroborated by Busayo Soyebi of the Centre for Transparent Advocacy.

    At the Osogbo Polling Unit 2 Ward 5 inside Osogbo Grammar School, no fewer than 200 voters were sighted waiting to be accredited.

    In Iragbiji, the hometown of the APC candidate, Gboyega Oyetola, there was also a massive turnout.

    At the polling units in LA primary School Popo, Ward 1,  Oja Oba Town Hall, Ward 2, Osolo Hall, Ward 1 and Oke-Osun, Ward 1B, many of the voters arrived as early as 7:00 am to check their names on the voters’ list.

    At exactly 8:24, accreditation and voting started at Polling Unit 2, LA Primary School Popo.

    Some voters, however, complained that they could not find their names on the voters’ register.

    The INEC Presiding Officer, Mr Lawal Adewale, said they had no challenges at the voting unit as materials arrived early.

    He said those complaining they could not find their names on the voters’ register were not at the polling unit to vote.

    More than 200 voters were at the polling unit made up three voting points to cast their vote.

    In Ede, the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, Adeleke,  voted at Ward 2 Unit  9 at Sagba-Abogunde at about 8:01 am after an initial hitch with the card reader.

    “The card reader took a lot of processes before it started working and I hope it is not the same in other polling units,” he said.

    The police spokesman, Acting DCP Jimoh Moshood, had said four unarmed policemen and two others from other security agencies would be on duty at each voting point throughout the state.

    He also said the Police Mobile Force (PMF) headed by a very senior officer will provide security at the RAC, Super RAC and collation centres.

  • Local Observers: We saw vote buying by PDP, SDP, ADP

    Vote buying is a sign of weakness, says Oyetola

     

    Some local observers in the Osun State governorship election revealed on Saturday how they saw three of the participating political parties buy votes in some communities.

    The observers disclosed this during their visit to the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Gboyega Oyetola in Iragbiji.

    While commending the APC for not participating in vote buying in the election, the leader of the team, Comrade Richards Adebayo, said his team members saw members of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) offering N1,500 to induce voters, African Democratic Party (ADP) offering N2,000 and Social Democratic Party (SDP) offering N3,000.

    He however, commended the electoral exercise, describing it as smooth and peaceful.

    Adebayo said his team members observed massive turnout by voters in virtually all the communities where they monitored the election. They include Osogbo, Iwo, Iragbiji, Ede and Ejigbo.

    He described the enthusiasm of voters as ‘unbelievable,’ adding that people voted without any fear or intimidation. He also commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the smooth conduct of the election, saying the entire exercise recorded a marked improvement over the last one held in 2014.

    He said they saw voters who were already at polling units as early as 6:00 am, and with smiles on their faces.

    His words: “In this election, we observed that people were happy to come out and vote for the candidate of their choice. The card readers worked generally well except in few polling units. We have to commend INEC for that. In the last election (2014), many people were not happy because of the situation at the time. But today, people moved and cast their votes freely. As observers, we are encouraged that the electoral process is improving.”

    The observers urged Oyetola to support a strong electoral process if he wins in the race, stressing that it is one of the pillars of democracy.

    Read Also: ‘Criminalise vote buying’

    Responding, Oyetola commended the observers for taking time out to see things for themselves instead of relying on what he called ‘jaundiced reports.’ He also hailed the peaceful environment in which the election held and the enthusiasm of the people of the state as they chose their next governor.

    He pointed out that the improvement in the electoral system confirmed that democracy was growing in Nigeria.

    According to him, the situation would have been otherwise if the PDP was in charge of the Federal Government. “But we are peaceful people who allow everyone to follow their conscience in an election. I will continue with that culture if I win this race. You cut corners when you are not sure of yourself. Vote buying is a sign of weakness; it shows you are not sure of winning. We don’t have anything to fear because the APC government has done well. That is why our people want us to continue. We have done massive infrastructural renewal, offered good education, security, social protection for the vulnerable and less privileged. Another novel project of our administration is our support for people with mental ill-health. We take care of them and re-integrate them into their families. If we win, we will continue with the free meal for school pupils.”

    Oyetola also commended security agencies for their effectiveness which added to the success of the election.

  • Former Speaker gives INEC passmark

    Former Speaker, Osun State House of Assembly, Hon. Adejare Bello, has hailed the conduct of the election in his polling unit, adding that he would give the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) a passmark, if the same scenario is replicated at the various polling units across the state.

    His words: “As far as this polling unit is concerned, I would say so far, so good. We have been restricted from moving around during the election, so I have no way of knowing what is happening elsewhere.

    Read Also: EFCC, INEC partnership targeted at opposition – Wike

    “But, if what us happening here is replicated in all the polling units,  I will give INEC a passmark and I will say that the exercise has been successful.

    “At this polling unit, the disabled were given the opportunity to cast their votes; some of them were assisted by their able-bodied counterparts.

    “As you can see, voting is still underway at this unit as at 1.30pm. This is because we have close to a thousand registered voters are registered here and the turnout is quite high.”

  • Osun Decides 2018: Aregbesola describes election as impressive, peaceful

    The Osun State governorship election commenced peacefully in all parts Ilesa, the homestead of the incumbent governor, Rauf Aregbesola.

    Electoral materials and officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) arrived various polling centers as early as few minutes before 7.00 am.

    The governor, who arrived Ilesa around 11.00 am, drove straight to his family house in Ogbon Arogbo, Ifofin in Ilesa East Local Government area of the state.

    The governor alongside his wife, Serifat, came out to vote at Ward 8 Unit 1 Ifofin polling booth around 11.50 am after accreditation.

    He spoke with reporters shortly, describing the conduct of the election as peaceful and large turn out of voters as impressive.

    Read Also: Osun decide: Police arrest four suspected thugs in Ife

    Aregbesola, who commended the people for trooping out to vote and conducting themselves in a decent manner, said reports reaching him from all parts of the state show that the exercise was going on well.

    He expressed hope that voters will sustain their peaceful disposition to the election.

    The Presiding Officer Ward 8 Unit 1 Ifofin, where the governor is expected to vote, Saheed Lawal, said all electoral materials arrived on time, adding that accreditation and voting commenced immediately at 8.00 am.

    According to him, the polling booths split into two have 818 registered voters.

    Our correspondent reported that voting exercise was peaceful in many polling centers within Ilesa East and Ilesa West local government areas, including Ward 1 unit 8, Ward 2 unit 2, Ward 7 unit 1, Ward 7 unit 6 and Ward 8 unit 1.

  • Two PDP agents held for vote buying attempts

    Police on Election Duty in Osun State have arrested two suspects for alleged attempts to influence voters with money.

    Muriat Olalekan, 61 and Hamzat Muniru, 65 were arrested at St. Mary Grammar School, Elewe-Iwo.

    It was gathered that the police recovered  604, 000 from them.

    According to the suspects, the money was given to them by one Akin Abiodun, a People’s Democratic Party (PDP) ward chairman in Molete Ward 1.

    Confirming the arrest, the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Operations and security Coordinator, Joshak Habila said the case was under investigation.

    He said the police would arrest, investigate and then handover all suspects to the Independent National Electoral Commission  (INEC).

    Read Also: APC, PDP in verbal war

    Hebila said: “So far, there have been arrest for some infractions. Somebody was caught discussing how money is to be shared. When he was searched, the money was found and he confessed. It is quite a reasonable amount of money. It happened in the eastern part of the state.

    “I do not have the update on the number of arrests made but I know that not less than two people have been picked up for trying to influence votes.

    “We will arrest, investigate and then, hand over to INEC for prosecution.”

     

  • Osun 2018: IPAC calls for credible poll

    As the people of Osun State go into the state governorship election on Saturday, the Inter Party Advisor Council (IPAC) has called for credible and free poll.

    Speaking at a press briefing before the IPAC members, including representatives of all the 48 political parties participating in the election staged a sensitization rally in the state, IPAC National Secretary, Barr. Aye Dakpokpo, advised the political gladiators not to see the election as a do-or-die affair.

    The IPAC scribe, who also advised the politicians to put the interest of the masses above their personal their own, said that IPAC was in Osun to sensitize the people of the state on the need to shun violence before, during and after the election.

    Read Also: NSCDC deploys over 10,000 operatives for Osun guber poll

    She said: “We are here in Osun to educate the populace on the need for free and fair election and you will agree with me that this is one of the strong pillars of democracy. We are focusing on no violence during the election and the need to minimize election malpractices.

    “So, it is important that political parties should not encourage violence during the election and that the reason for election is for people to elect a leader that will serve them and not to rule them.”

    She also urged the political parties and their candidates to accept the outcome of the election as long as it is accepted to be credible.

  • NSCDC deploys over 10,000 operatives for Osun guber poll

    The Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) Friday said a total of 10,073 operatives is drafted for election duties in Osun State.

    Deputy Commandant General of the corps, Kelechi Madu stated this during a chat with reporters in Osogbo.

    Read Also:Ogun NSCDC rescues suspected kidnapper from being lynched

    He said 5,500 of the personnel would be deployed to man polling booths with the police, adding that the others would be assigned to other security duties in relation to the election.

    Although some of the operatives had complained of poor remuneration ranging from N580 to N4, 500 as against the N15, 000 per personnel allegedly approved for them; Madu said all the personnel deployed for elector duty got their allowances approved for them by the government.

    He said: “What the government approved was what was paid to them. What if the government said it was not going to pay anything? Would they not do their jobs?”

  • Osun 2018: IPAC calls for credible poll

    As the people of Osun State go into the state governorship election Friday, the Inter Party Advisor Council (IPAC) has called for credible and free poll.

    Speaking at a press briefing before the IPAC members, including representatives of all the 48 political parties participating in the election staged a sensitization rally in the state, IPAC National Secretary, Barr. Aye Dakpokpo, advised the political gladiators not to see the election as a do-or-die affair.

    Read Also:IPAC tasks INEC on Osun governorship election

    The IPAC scribe, who also advised the politicians to put the interest of the masses above their personal their own, said that IPAC was in Osun to sensitize the people of the state on the need to shun violence before, during and after the election.

    She said: “We are here in Osun to educate the populace on the need for free and fair election and you will agree with me that this is one of the strong pillars of democracy. We are focusing on no violence during the election and the need to minimize election malpractices.

    “So, it is important that political parties should not encourage violence during the election and that the reason for election is for people to elect a leader that will serve them and not to rule them.”

    She also urged the political parties and their candidates to accept the outcome of the election as long as it is accepted to be credible.