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Osun decides on August 9

–  All eyes on Aregbesola, Omisore as allegations and counter allegations rage between APC and PDP

ON Saturday,  August 9, 2014, the good people of the State of Osun will decide who to rule them for the next four years.
But prior to the election day, there have been a lot of apprehension in the state as no one can say categorically whether the much publicized governorship election will go peacefully.
However, the image of the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) is also at stake as there are wide speculations from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) camp that the electoral body has connived with People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to rig the election in favour of its flag bearer, Senator Iyiola Omisore.
The situation was further compounded with the deployment of 5,000 men of the Department of State Security (DSS) by the Federal Government allegedly to police the governorship election.  The presence of the men who were said to be full masked and armed created massive apprehension in the state.  According to APC, the deployment of the security operatives of that magnitude was calculated at intimidating the voters so that they won’t come out to perform their civic responsibility on August 9, 2014.
This and many more allegations and counter allegations have enveloped the political atmosphere of the State of the Living Spring at the moment, causing panic among the electorate.
ENCOMIUM Weekly, however, learnt there was a protest by women from the state capital, Osogbo, demanding the withdrawal of the fierce looking security operatives, who were said to have visited the major towns in the state, including Ife, Ilesa, Iwo, amongst others.
In a statement reportedly issued in Lagos on Saturday, August 2, 2014 by APC’s National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the plan, some INEC IT staff had allegedly handed over the entire electoral register for the state to a special assistant to a top PDP national official, with a view to manipulating them to disenfranchise many voters.
“For those who may see this as outlandish, they should recall that an INEC official tampered with the voters register used during the last gubernatorial election in Anambra State to remove the names of many voters.”
APC said the plan to tamper with the electoral register for Osun, coupled with INEC’s delay in issuing Permanent Voters Register (PVR) to registered voters, especially those who are APC members in the state, highlight the desperation of the PDP to win the forthcoming governorship election at all costs.
“The truth is that the PDP knows it cannot win a free and fair election in Osun State.  Everything so far points to the fact that our party will win by a landslide if the election is free, fair, credible and transparent.  In fact, a highly credible opinion poll carried out by the globally recognized TNS-RMS showed that the APC leads among voters in the state by 73 per cent, compared to a paltry 19 per cent for the PDP.
“Apparently stunned by the reality on the ground, as against the propaganda by the PDP, the party’s candidate, Omisore quickly conjured his own opinion poll, purportedly carried out by United States Agency for International Development (USAID), showing that he is leading the APC candidate and incumbent Governor Aregbesola.
“Fortunately, USAID has denied carrying out any opinion poll in Osun State, thus putting a lie to the PDP’s claim.  There is no better indication of desperation than this,” the party said.
The party further called on the good people of Osun State and APC supporters in particular to be very vigilant in order to thwart the evil machinations of those who are averse to credible and violence-free election.
“If the voting is done in the best tradition of free, fair and credible elections, whoever wins or loses will have no problem accepting the outcome.”
Corroborating the party’s submission, an APC chieftain from Iwo also said, “It’s obvious that the PDP has a master plan to rig the guber election, even ahead of time.  The party has recruited some young men for that purpose.  In addition to that, all the house-to-house campaigns embarked upon by Omisore and his supporters are being carried out in fraudulent ways.  They have even been buying a voter’s card for N5,000.  They have visited many villages on this.  You can also imagine President Goodluck Jonathan insisting that Osun election will be fully policed and that the state will be militarized.  Where is that in the book of democracy and our constitution?”
On the assumption by some political watchers that the emergence of former Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Alhaji Fatai Akinbade as Labour Party (LP) flag bearer in the Saturday, August 9, 2014, election may jeopardize the chances of Aregbesola winning in the Osun West Senatorial District, which comprises Iwo and other main towns,  Mr. Adegbenjo said, “That’s not true.  Aregbesola will win across the three senatorial districts massively.  He is a grassroots man and well loved by the people of Osun State.  Alhaki Akinbade doesn’t have the charisma to match Aregbesola.  So, being in the race is no threat to the victory of APC in the election.  Come August 9, 2014, we will all celebrate the victory of APC over PDP.  Forget about what happened in Ekiti.  We’re very unique in Osun and we all know the direction our votes would go.”
Reacting to all these, Senator Omisore, who spoke via his Director of Publicity, Mr. Diran Odeyemi said, “Don’t mind them, they are only being jittery because they have understood the situation on ground that they can’t win.  That’s why they’re crying up and down.  The security men were posted to Osun not to intimidate anybody.  Even in Ekiti, we saw 85 year old women and 90 year old men coming out to vote for Fayose.  They are only being afraid of what’s going to happen because they know already that the people of Osun are ready to vote for a change.
“The truth is that, it’s only a criminal that will be running out of the sight of the security men.  So far they are not criminals, why are they worried about the presence of security men?
“Concerning the alleged plan to rig, they should be fully monitored.  They’re the ones who are planning to rig, and that has been foiled now.  They can’t go ahead with that plan again.  We don’t need to rig to defeat Aregbesola.  Our house-to-house campaign has put us ahead of APC.  We have exposed their evil plan, that’s why they are now rattled.”
–               TADE ASIFAT

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Written by Encomium

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One Comment

  1. Our politicians should learn how to accept defeat and congratulate the winner, just like the case of my humble state-Ekiti. Lets shun unnecessary propaganda, character assassination and the do-or-die politics. If you win, accept it as an opportunity to serve everybody not your party members and supporters only. And if you lose, see it as an opportunity to plan ahead for another term by doing what your people desire of you. I LOVE NIGERIA & AM PROUD TO BE A NIGERIAN.

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