• Mixed reactions trail poll
Mixed reactions yesterday trailed the governorship election in Osun State.
While a cross section of party leaders hailed the electoral commission and security agencies for patriotism and commitment to the sanctity of the ballot box, others said that they could have performed better.
Prominent politicians, including former Interim Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Governor Rauf Aregbesola, his deputy, Mrs. Titi Laoye-Tomori, said that the militarisation of the state and the arrest of chieftains of the ruling party provoked anxiety and fear.
The governor, who highlighted some irregularities that marred the exercise, said that the PDP wanted to stage a civilian coup, adding that the state is under the siege of the gun.
There was tension in many parts of the state following the harassment and arrest of many All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders and followers by the police. However, the tension subsided, shortly after the commencement of the accreditation of voters when the chieftains were released.
Among the APC leaders arrested were the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Wale Afolabi, his Ministry of Agriculture counterpart, Wale Adedoyin, Mr. Tijani Oladosu and party supporters. Adedoyin said that no fewer than 50 supporters were hounded into detention by the police. Another chieftain, Bamisaye, a legislator from Ilesa, had to run into the bush to escape arrest.
Also, APC, Labour Party and Social Democratic Party (SDP) chieftains protested to the electoral commission that party agents were not allowed to monitor voting by INEC officials and security agents, owing to the lack of identification tags in Ile-Ife area. To douse the anxiety, the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Olusegun Agbaje, directed that some officials issue the tags to the affected agents.
The REC explained that the non-issuance of tags to the agents was not deliberate, adding that the complaint had been taken up. 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. The weather was benevolent. Voters stormed polling units across the three senatorial districts and six zones for accreditation. Owing to the huge turn -out, 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. Although there were reports of delay in some polling units, the anxiety triggered by the delay fizzled out when the polling officers arrived.
There was massive presence of security men at polling centres. Police helicopters hovered around the state in surveillance. Unlike previous polls, 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.
Hailing the peaceful atmosphere in Iragbiji, where he voted, the Chief of Staff to Osun State Governor, Mr. Gboyega Oyetola, observed that people turned out en mass to perforce their civic right. “As at now, all is calm. The turn -out is huge,” he said, shortly after his accreditation.
The deputy governor, Mrs. Grace Tomori-Laoye, who voted at Owo-Ope area of Osogbo, the state capital, said that, although she was impressed by the large-turn-out, the complaints by party chieftains that some members were arrested by the police without justification were worrisome.
She said: “I did not sleep throughout the night. A lot of our members, APC members, were harassed, molested, and picked up by the police. In Oba-Oke, the monarch called me that the town was in turmoil. The youth leader was picked.
“There were attempts to arrest Senator Adebayo Salami. In Ede, there were attempts to arrest Senator Isiaka Adeleke. Two commissioners were arrested. A party chieftain, Owonikoko, was also picked. I called the police. The police denied. Some people are threatening to disrupt voting. The policemen were tying an ankara and they said that they covered their faces”.
Hon. Bamisaye said that “hired policemen had chased APC members into the bush in Ljesa area”. He added on phone: “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”.
Former Governor Adeleke, who protested assault on his residence, said: “I had relocated from my house to my mother’s house to vote. At 1 am on the eve of the poll, a van containing military men, SSS, police with AK 47 came to my house. I was taking my bath. They said I should open my gates. I said no. They started shooting. Five minutes later, they left. They covered their faces”.
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.”
Akande, who voted at Ila, complained that the accreditation was flawed, blaming the INEC for inefficiency. He said, if care was not taken, the poll may be the worst in the history of the country.
The elder statesmen also objected to the decision by some INEC staff to stop the voters from folding the ballot papers after voting, saying that they had the constitutional right to do so. He said: “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 supporters, saying that it was part of the move to disperse the chieftains and divert their attention. He added: “An old man of over 80 years was seized at Ifedayo local government and dropped at Osogbo. We called his children to go and pick him up.”
Lamenting his arrest, Afolabi said: “They took my car key from me and pushed me inside the police station. I am a lawyer and chief law officer of the state. I met the Agriculture commissioner there. They asked me to write a statement. SSS interrogated us. 50 members of our party are still in detention now. They said they released me on bail later. I didn’t have any incriminating material in my car. If this could happen to me, you could imagine what would have happened to other members of the party.”
After he was accredited around 10.45 am, Governor Rauf Aregbesola, who was accompanied by his mother, wife, Sherifat and children, urged the people to remain calm and shun unruly behaviour. He chided the security agents for committing terror against the people.
He said: “Nobody can abort the people’s will. What is important is to encourage our people to follow up the process, stand by the ballot until the votes are counted and results announced”.
Aregbesola alleged that “some law enforcement officers have abused their duties”, adding that the state was not seized by violence because the peace-loving people of Osun State were determined to maintain peace and defend democracy.
The governor added: “The behaviour of the some officers has made the process leading to the actual right to vote is flawed. The problem is not with the people, but with the institutions charged with the conduct of the election. INEC’s failure to provide accredited party agents adequate tags is bad. This has implications for election monitoring. There is no justification for denying party agents identity tags.
“APC agents in Osigbo, Atakumosa, Ifedayo and other places could not monitor the process from the beginning to ascertain whether the process is good. Also, not all security agents maintained neutrality. The crackdown on APC leaders was unwarranted. They were, molested, brutalised and incarcerated.
“The Attorney-General was manhandled and detained without any charge. The Agriculture commissioner was abducted and released at 11.30am. Segun Olanibi is in detention. Their crime is that they are chieftains of the APC. 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.”
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