AKINWALE ABOLUWADE
Despite the series of challenges staring the two major political parties (the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party) in Osun State in the face, investigations by Oyo Reporters show that the two parties still stand ample chances in the electoral contest that holds today.
It will be recalled that in the 2018 governorship election in Osun State, the returning officer, Prof. Joseph Fuwape, declared the APC candidate, Adegboyega Oyetola, as the winner of the governorship election by scoring a total number of 255,505 votes against Ademola Adeleke of the PDP that got a total of 255,023 votes.
Adeleke was in early lead with 353 votes having polled 254,698 against Oyetola’s 254,345, but Oyetola’s victory came as the Independent National Electoral Commission declared a rerun that led to the final contest in which both candidates scrambled for 2,637 votes in seven units.
As things stand, Oyetola is expected to latch on power of incumbency, achievements of his administration and his rating with the civil servants and the pensioners just as Adeleke hopes to come up strong on the basis of his grassroots.mobilization strength and financial war chest.
This is as political parties devised various means of ensuring that they emerge victorious in the historic exercise with reports showing that party agents engage in oath-taking to ensure fairness by their members and supporters in money distribution in order to guide against betrayals.
It was learnt that party loyalists as well as agents representing some of the leading political parties at polling units were made to take oaths using traditional and orthodox means in a bid to forestall compromise.
In readiness for today’s election in the State of the Livingspring, security operatives were already positioned across flashpoints in the state to guide against violence and disorderliness as no fewer than 1.5 million registered voters were expected to decide their choices of leadership in the next four years.
In the build up to the election, the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba, deployed no fewer than 21,000 policemen to the state just as the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps drafted over 11,000 personnel to maintain peace and orderliness. Men of the Department of State Security Service and other security agents were also on hand to ensure free and fair process.
Johnson Babatunde Kokumo, the Deputy Inspector General of Police, who led the security team for the election, urged the residents of the state to cooperate with the security personnel.
“You talked about vote-buying. I want to appeal to you: whatever you see that is contrary to the Electoral Act 2022, let us know. Call our attention to it. It is not out of place.
“You know our zeal. You know the security personnel are in the picture of vote buying, they may not. You have a civic responsibility to discharge and what is that? Join hands with us in curbing crimes and criminality. And, of course, this includes electoral offenses. We cannot do it alone. If you join hands with us to do it, you will equally succeed in doing your bit.
“And the little things we were able to do collectively are responsible for success we see in those elections we have had in Nigeria,” he was quoted as saying.
The police had earlier placed restriction of movement on the state starting from 12am to 6pm on Saturday.
Some suspected thugs were said to have engaged in sporadic shootings around 12:30pm on Friday at Ojurin Motor Park, Old Garage, Osogbo. It was rumoured that the incident was linked to hoodlums who are loyal to Kazeem Oyewale, popularly known as ‘Asiri Eniba,’ Chairman, National Union of Road Transport Workers, Oroki Branch, Osogbo, Osun State.
Some accredited election observers raised apprehension that only a chunk of the over 1.5million registered voters in the state would turn up to exercise their franchise in today’s election due to tension and fear that the process might turn bloody.
On July 16, Faith Nwadishi, the Executive Director of the Centre for Transparency Advocacy, tasked political parties to desist from violence, saying that they must adhere to the rules of the game.
He added that “We urge security agencies to give assurances and make adequate provisions to protect electorates before and after the election while discharging their duties professionally. We urge citizens to come out enmasse and exercise their democratic rights by voting for candidates of their choice.”
