Aregbesola leads Omisore, others AUGUST 10, 2014 Leave a Comment Rauf Aregbesola The Governor of Osun State and the All Progressives Congress candidate, Rauf Aregbesola, moved to an early lead in the governorship election held in the state on Saturday. Although INEC was yet to declare the winner of the election as at the time that your darling newspaper went to bed, reports from polling units monitored by our correspondents in some parts of the state showed that Aregbesola had secured the highest votes. The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Senator Iyiola Omisore, and the candidates of other parties trailed the governor. However, Omisore, in particular, appeared to have garnered the second highest number of votes. The election brought to a climax the hype and excitement that preceded the Saturday event. Although the accreditation was scheduled to commence by 8am, voters were already at the various polling units as early as 6.30am waiting for INEC officials. Our correspondents report that the election was largely peaceful in nearly all the local government areas of the state. Our correspondents who covered the election in Osun East Senatorial District, where the two major candidates, Governor Rauf Aregbesola of All Progressives Party and Senator Iyiola Omisore of the Peoples Democratic Party, come from, observed that supporters of the two candidates came out early to vote. With the heavy presence of security men on all major roads and in all the polling units, movement from one place to the other was restricted. From Osogbo to Ife and later Ilesa, our correspondents observed that the security forces ensured that there was no vehicle plying the road except those with INEC passes. The same applies to all the roads in the state, including the highway from Ibadan. It was indeed a difficult day for travellers passing through the Ife-Akure federal road as soldiers also blocked the road. Soldiers and other security agencies also mounted four road blocks between Osogbo and Ede, frisking voters and inspecting observers vehicles even after showing their accreditation tags. Generally, there was no violence in the Osun East Senatorial District except in Akarabata ward, Lagere, Ile-Ife, where a man who was caught wearing a police vest was alleged to be a fake police. He was apprehended by the security men at the scene and driven away in a police patrol van. As scheduled, accreditation began by 8am and ended at 12pm. At Yemo Pottery Museum premises at Moore, where Omisore did his accreditation around 11.30am, there was a large media presence as journalists waited for the arrival of the PDP candidate. He eventually voted at exactly 12.50pm. He told journalists that he was confident of victory, accusing APC of brigandage and violent conduct, while also praising INEC for preparing well for the election. He said, “We thank God that so far so good, this is the best election we have had in the recent time because of the large turn-out of the voters. My message to the people is that they should remain calm, resilient and hopeful in the face of thuggery and violence because a new governor will emerge. “Like any endeavour, particularly, any one that involves human beings, you cannot expect 100 per cent efficiency. INEC has done so well but not without some errors. It is difficult for INEC and even the military to curtail the preparedness of APC’s rigging and manipulation but we are going to surmount some of those challenges. We must pray that there will be no election manipulation and violence. In Ilesa, Aregbesola voted at ward 8 unit one in Ifofin, a few meters away from his father’s house, where he had relocated to for the purpose of the election. After voting around 12.40pm, he warned that any attempt to scuttle democratic process through rigging would be regretted by “They will have themselves to blame if they scuttle democracy. You can see people patriotism and commitment to democracy. If they can be 20 per cent committed like the ordinary people, the nation would have been the best for it. What they are doing by picking our chieftains and members is barbaric. They have been arresting, harassing and molesting our people for no just reason. The democracy is about making your choice freely without being hounded,” he said. Meanwhile, Omisore has said he does not have 100 per cent confidence in the Independent National Electoral Commission. He explained that the level of thuggery and intimidation was “imaginable.” He spoke at Yemo polling unit, More, Ife East Local Government, where he voted. He said, “We cannot say we have 100 per cent confidence on INEC. You cannot have 100 per cent confidence on any process that is managed by human. Even as an engineer, you cannot have 100 per cent confidence on the efficiency of a machine.” Aregbesola also alleged that no fewer than 150 members of his party were either harassed or detained by security agents on election day. He said, “The tags supplied by INEC to agents were not adequate and this deprived some of our agents of monitoring the electoral process. APC agents were specifically not given identity card cards to ensure that the rules of are well followed. If Federal Government continue to abuse our agents with security men, the result will not be friendly. “I cannot say for all, but some the security personnel behaved in manners and ways that contradict their uniform. You will recall that there has been arrival of policemen for more than a week to intimidate the voters. As I speak to you 150 APC members including leaders and supporters have been molested and militarised. “Even the Attorney General was manhandled and I am not sure he participated in the election process. Also, Commissioner and chairmen of council is in detention without any charge levelled against them, which is an mimical action. What we are witnessing is a bastardised democracy.” Few hours after voting and counting were concluded in various polling units, multimedia projector was seen screaming the results. The electronic billboard was situated at Arugba circle, Okefia junction in Osogbo. The results were displayed at both sides of the boards with the presence of security men. Copyright PUNCH.All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH. Contact: editor@punchng
Posted on: Sun, 10 Aug 2014 03:34:07 +0000