By Olusegun Olanrewaju and Oludamisi Ojo
For the July 16 governorship election in Osun State, the battle line is indeed drawn. Different camps have continued to woe the electorate, with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) holding a mega rally yesterday.
The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), led by Ademola Adeleke has vowed to take the rug off the feet of the ruling party, a claim it has been making since the emergence of its standard-bearer in March.
However, at the yesterday’s APC mega rally, hard words were traded in the race being contested by APC’s incumbent governor, Gboyega Oyetola, PDP’s Ademola Adeleke, Labour party (LP)’s Lasun Yusuf, Akin Ogunbiyi of Accord Party (AP), and Goke Omigbodun of Social Democratic Party (SDP).
President Muhammadu Buhari; Senate President, Ahmad Lawan; presidential candidate of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; National Chairman of APC, Senator Abdullahi Adamu; Chairman, APC National Campaign Council for Osun State governorship election and Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, 11 governors and party leaders yesterday converged on the Osogbo Stadium for a mega rally in support of the re-election of Governor Oyetola.
Tinubu, who stood in for Buhari, opened the floodgate of attacks when he described the PDP and LP as ‘mushroom parties’.
He said, “I ask you to please do the same thing you did in Ekiti. Come out with your PVCs and vote massively for APC. The voting is now in your hand. Be very vigilant. Be watchful. You will not do it in vain.
“Think about your children and vote accordingly so you can see the future. Come out en-masse. Don’t mind PDP and other mushroom parties — parties like Labour; they will labour till they die. God will not make you labourers.
“You’re next. We will be here till tomorrow. We will come back here for the victory dance. Look at the trajectory of our lives. We make promises and fulfil them. We are the ones upholding the party, the Buhari party. Don’t answer the naysayers.” It was a hard hit, pundits submitted.
Buhari, Tinubu, Sanwo-Olu, APC governors, and leaders while speaking during the campaign rally, unanimously endorsed Governor Oyetola and urged the people of Osun State to vote for APC to ensure continuity of the lofty projects embarked upon by the APC-led administration in the State.
Specifically, Buhari urged the electorate to come out in large numbers and vote for Governor Oyetola for continuity of good governance in the State of Osun.
He said Governor Oyetola deserved to be re-elected to consolidate what he had done in his first term.
“Go out with your PVCs and vote massively for APC and Governor Oyetola on Saturday. Think about your children and vote for Oyetola for a better future for them.
“You must all go out in a large crowd on Saturday to re-elect Governor Oyetola. Don’t be deceived by PDP and other mushroom parties. We must vote and defeat them,” Tinubu charged the people of Osun State.
The Senate President, Senator Ahmad Lawan, said Osun State in the last three and half years had witnessed great development and growth under the leadership of Governor Oyetola.
He described Oyetola as a prudent and good manager of human and material resources, adding that the governor has done a lot in his first term for him to be re-elected during Saturday’s governorship poll.
Lawan said leaders and members of the APC, especially members of the APC caucus in the National Assembly are fully in support of the party and Oyetola in Osun State.
Governor Sanwo-Olu in his address said his Osun State counterpart had performed very well in his first term and he is deserving of another term.
Sanwo-Olu, who is the Chairman of the APC National Campaign Council for the Osun State Governorship election, said the electorate must vote and ensure that their votes count on Saturday.
•PDP: We’ll triumph
In its tackle, the Osun State chapter of PDP alleged the importation of thugs by the APC to disrupt the election.
The APC has since discounted the allegation, saying the claim represented ‘signs’ from a party ‘anticipating failure’. The PDP maintained its claim.
The PDP raised the alarm over an alleged influx of armed men and women allegedly mobilised by the ruling APC to disrupt the peaceful conduct of Saturday’s gubernatorial election.
The opposition party, in a statement signed by its chairman, caretaker committee, Akindele Adekunle, and made available to newsmen in Osogbo, called on the security agencies to stop any attempt by the suspected hoodlums to disrupt the polls.
According to the PDP, which maintained that it was headed for victory, “If various appeals from well-meaning stakeholders are not acted upon, the authorities should be held responsible for any breakdown of law and order in Osun State.
In a swift reaction, the APC state campaign council spokesperson, Sunday Akere, described the PDP allegation as laughable and a sign of a party that anticipates failure.
He said the APC was not known for violence, but for organising proper elections and wooing residents to come out en masse to vote for its candidate, Governor Adegboyega Oyetola, and it does not engage in frivolities like engaging thuggery.
“We are focused on the goal, which is winning Saturday’s poll by mobilising residents to throng voting units and cast their votes consciously for Oyetola. We can’t engage the PDP, it’s a mud fight”, he said.
•INEC relocates polling units from controversial centres
Meanwhile, ahead of the governorship election, the electoral umpire in the coming Osun gubernatorial poll, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), yesterday disclosed that it had relocated polling units from some ‘controversial centres’.
INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Osun State, Prof. Abdulganiyu Raji, speaking at a stakeholders’ meeting organised by the electoral body in Osogbo, the state capital, said, “Polling units were moved away from controversial areas such as the front of houses of politicians, front of palaces, religious centres, either to open spaces or public buildings.”
According to him, “This action is to ensure adequate security and peaceful elections. Flashpoints have been identified and strategies (have been) mapped out to resolve issues that can truncate the election process.”
The REC also hinted at the conversion of voting points to polling units in a bid to ensure the expansion of voter access to polling units.
He added that all non-sensitive materials to be used in Saturday’s election had been batched to the polling unit level, and were ready to be conveyed to the various Registration Area Centres (RACs).
Raji said the commission had concluded the production of maps of all polling units in the state –both electronically and hardcopy – for ease of movement and location of polling units by electoral officials.
He also stated that poll officials had been prepared for the exercise and ready for deployment, adding that the security personnel in the state had been trained.
The INEC boss recalled that the commission had met with stakeholders in their categories, saying yesterday’s meeting would be the last before the July 16 poll.
He also spoke about the conduct of mock accreditation in selected local government areas to ensure the functionality of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and readiness assessment of the election process.
Raji said the collection of Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) at the registration area and ward levels is ongoing to ensure no eligible voter is disenfranchised.
He pointed out that INEC would stop the collection exercise on Thursday while massive voter education and awareness would be conducted across the local government areas.
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•IGP deploys 21,000 policemen to maintain law, order
Meanwhile, the Inspector-General of Police, (IGP), Usman Alkali Baba, yesterday said that a total number of 21,000 police personnel would be deployed to monitor and maintain orderliness in the election in Osun State, as part of the election security plan.
The IGP disclosed this at the Osun State governorship election stakeholders’ meeting held at the Civic Centre, Osogbo.
He added that all three senatorial districts, 332 wards, and polling units had been appropriately mapped out and put for the deployment of adequate personnel, who will be on the ground to maintain peace and order before, during, and after the election.
The police chief said his men would be deployed to protect the facilities of INEC and its personnel.
“This deployment is not meant to intimidate any law-abiding citizens rather it is to deter misguided elements that may threaten the conduct of the election and violate the electoral act. It also serves as a strong warning that government is determined to protect the citizens.”
Alkali Baba, who further maintained that the police would not allow any person or group of people in the society to derail the electoral process, affirmed that “No one is allowed to move about from one polling unit to another as there will be restrictions on movement on the day of the election.”
“I enjoin the political, opinion, and community leaders to provide the moral leadership that will motivate citizens to conduct themselves according to electoral law and the constitution of Nigeria,” he said.
The IGP added, “You are all to be guided by the following during the election. No one is allowed to wear any cloth, emblem, or colour that signifies any political parties in the polling units.
“No person is allowed to move around with security details around the polling units. Indeed, the appropriate directive has been given for the withdrawal of details around politically exposed persons.
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“Everyone is enjoined to vote and return to their respective houses within approved perimeters of the polling centres.
“Only INEC accredited election monitors, and observers are permitted to move around for election monitoring and they must all wear their INEC accreditation tags.
“Only accredited journalists are allowed to cover the election. Vote-buying or any form of inducement is not allowed and remains a very serious offence.
“Praise singing, dancing, and drumming around the vicinity are not allowed around the polling units. Vehicles branded with any political parties should not be deployed for any election assignment. Selling alcoholic beverages around the polling section, booth, or collation centres is banned.
“Anybody who causes violence around polling units or threatens public peace in any manner before, during, and after an election shall be apprehended and dealt with according to law,” he submitted.
