The congratulation by President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress, APC, candidate in Thursday’s Osun State governorship rerun election, Adegboyega Oyetola, has shown that the Presidency is behind the electoral manipulations, outright rigging and bloodletting that marred the process, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has alleged.
As reported by Vanguard, the party said on Friday in a statement by the its spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan : “Nothing can be more reprehensive that while the entire world is condemning the process and the blood of the innocent that were maimed by APC thugs is yet to dry on the streets of Osun state, the Presidency and the APC are busy celebrating a stolen mandate.”
According to the statement: “Is it not outrageous that Mr. President condoned the electoral manipulations, impunity and violence in the election and merely asked that those aggrieved by the unlawful acts of his party should go to court?
“Every well-meaning Nigerian and the world community expected President Buhari, as the father of the nation, whose duty it is to protect all, to condemn this wicked, mean and malevolent act orchestrated by the APC in this election, but he could not find a place in his heart to do so.
“President Buhari is aware that this election was won genuinely by the candidate of the PDP, Senator Ademola Adeleke, yet he approved the stealing of the mandate and had no soothing words for the victims of his party’s violent atrocities in Osun State.
“The Buhari Presidency and the APC have in Osun election, again, demonstrated insensitivity and desperation for power, for which they have little or no value for the lives of Nigerians.”
Meanwhile, calm has returned to Osogbo, the Osun State capital, after a gruelling electoral activity that resulted in the announcement of the APC Candidate as the winner of the governorship election.
Besides civil servants who are observing the industrial action called by organised labour across Nigeria, other categories of workers and business persons have returned to their places of work.
There are no wild celebrations as witnessed in Ondo and Ekiti States after results were announced, and those who appear to be disappointed are neither exhibiting any show of frustration or anger over the outcome of the election.
There are however feelers from Ede, the hometown of the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Ademola Adeleke, of dejection and disappointment following the turn of events and electoral misfortunes.
Notwithstanding the peaceful atmosphere, the military and police still maintained strategic presence in some parts of the state capital, to forestall any eventual breach of the peace.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the early hours of Friday, returned Oyetola as governor-elect after a rerun election.
The election, which began on Saturday, September 22, was only concluded on Thursday.
Saturday’s exercise was declared inconclusive after INEC declared a rerun in seven polling units where voting exercises were cancelled.
The PDP candidate had led with a 353-votes margin but this was cancelled by the APC candidate who won six of the seven polling units with a wide margin.
At the end of the tally of votes, the APC candidate recorded 255, 505 votes while the PDP candidate recorded 255, 023 votes.
Some voters who spoke to Premium Times said the outcome of the election would not affect the peace of the state as the citizens only desired the development of the state and improvement in their welfare.
They noted that if there are issues, it should be settled politically or in the courts, instead of making the people suffer more.
Residents speak
A security man in one of the hotels in Osogbo, who identified himself simply as Yinusa, said the people voted because they wanted development and not fight. According to him, Osun people are peaceful and would not resort to violence.
“The problem with the Aregbesola government is in the area of payment of salaries. If the incoming governor can settle that, I think the people will be happy,” Mr Yinusa said.
A female phone dealer at Olaiya junction, Osogbo, who gave her name as Kemi, said she does not care who emerged as the governor of the state, provided there are peace and development in the land.
Ahmodu, a resident of the city, who is however, from Ondo State, said he does not see any difference between the two political parties and so no one should lose sleep over the outcome.
“They are birds of the same feathers. I don’t see any difference between the two. They will still do what they want to do,” he said.
Kunle Adedeji is a phone repairer at Odi Olowo Street in Osogbo. He claimed to have voted for the APC and was happy that the party won the election.
He, however, said he believed that despite the initial bitterness that followed the electoral contest, peace would reign and people would cooperate to see that the state moves forward.
The PDP, as a party and its candidate as an individual, have rejected the election results, claiming it was a coup against the people, while the APC hailed the result, claiming it was the wish of the people expressed.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Oyetola the winner of the election, which was concluded on Thursday.
After the summation of last Saturday’s inconclusive election and Thursday’s rerun election results, Oyetola polled 255,505 votes to defeat People’s Democratic Party’s candidate, Ademola Adeleke, who got 255,023 votes.
“That Gboyega Oyetola, having satisfied the requirement of the law and won the highest number of votes is hereby declared winner and returned elected,” the returning officer for the election Prof. Adeola Afuwape said on Friday morning.
On Saturday, Adeleke polled 254,698 votes to beat Oyetola who trailed him with 254,345 votes. INEC, however, declared the election inconclusive because the margin between the PDP and APC, 353 votes, is less than the number of registered voters, 3,498, in the seven polling units where elections were cancelled.
The rerun election was held at three polling units in Orolu, two polling units in Ife South, one polling unit in Ife North local governments and one polling unit in Osogbo.
Prior to the rerun on Thursday, the leaders from PDP and APC, courted the candidate of Social Democratic Party, Iyiola Omisore, who came third in the Saturday’s inconclusive election.
Although Omisore stood no chance to be elected governor in the supplementary poll, his support was crucial in the rerun as there was a total of three polling units at stake for the APC and PDP in Ife, where Omisore hails from.
Omisore had agreed to form an alliance with the APC for the rerun election because the ruling party heeded his demands while he claimed PDP lacked integrity. He said: “the characters in the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) are serial liars and not men of honour and integrity, having reneged in all previous agreements.”
However, according to The Guardian, Thursday’s rerun election was marred by irregularities and intimidation perpetrated by political thugs despite the huge deployment of security operatives at the polling units.
An election monitoring group, Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), also faulted the rerun election in Osun State as anti-democratic.
The CDD noted that the number of the incidents recorded during the poll have undermined the sanctity of the vote and the overall credibility of the electoral process.
“We hold strongly the view that the re-run poll of Thursday, September 27, 2018, does not meet up with the minimum standards for free, fair and credible elections,” the CDD said in a statement.
“It falls short of global best practices in democratic elections which Nigeria aspires towards,” it added.
Despite the irregularities reported by journalists and observers, INEC officials at the collation centre all said the election went on smoothly.
Also, the Coalition of United Political Parties described the rerun election as a show of shame.
It also expressed worry that INEC and the Nigerian security forces had allegedly turned themselves into organs of the ruling APC.
A statement from the secretariat of the coalition signed by its spokesman, Mr Ikenga Ugochinyere, in Abuja on Thursday, according to Punch, said that it was unfortunate that 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 the joint militant wing of the vote-stealing APC.”
It added, “For the very first time in Nigeria’s electoral history, accredited journalists and observers were manhandled and stopped from accessing voting areas. Security forces watched while APC thugs molested and intimidated voters, dispossessed them of their Permanent Voter Cards and abducted accredited agents of the opposition.
“The deduction of votes from Senator Adeleke, the fictitious adding of votes for Alhaji Adegboyega 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.”
Vanguard/Punch/Premium Times/The Guardian/Punch
