National Chairman of Nigeria’s opposition party, John Oyegun has raised alarm over plans to place the party candidate and governor of Ekiti state, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, under house arrest, in an unfolding political drama, amid growing insecurity in the state, less than 24 hours to its governorship election.

Oyegun made this known in statement issued after a press conference on Friday, saying the party has it “on good authority that a detachment of troops will be sent to the Ekiti State House on Saturday to escort Gov. Fayemi to vote and then put him under virtual house arrest thereafter.”

“I have called this World Press Conference today, to alert Nigerians and our international friends of the grave threat posed to our democracy and indeed the very survival of our nation by an increasingly-tyrannical federal government.”

He lamented heavy security presence in Ekiti, controlled by the APC, ahead of the governorship elections on Saturday, even as the Inspector General of Police, announced a ban on movement on Thursday, from 6am to 8pm until after the polls, a directive that has been criticised, and prepare grounds to favour the ruling party candidate, Segun Fayose.

Oyegun said: “Under the guise of providing security for the election, Ekiti State has been turned to a war zone, with thousands of armed policemen and troops as well as fearsome armoured personnel carriers dotting the entire Ekiti landscape.

“Against the background of my narration, and the over-militarization of Ekiti State ahead of Saturday’s election, many questions come to mind.

“Within the past three days, two aircraft, one a Beechcraft 1900 and another a Hawker 900, made a total of three trips to the Akure airport ferrying cargoes of money for the Ekiti election.

“On June 8th 2014: Our supporters, armed with nothing but brooms, were engaged in a peaceful procession on the streets of Ado Ekiti when they were attacked by gun-totting policemen acting on ”orders” from above.

“One of them was killed and when Gov. Kayode Fayemi attempted to intervene, he was teargassed and threatened with arrest by the Mopol Commander

“We state clearly that our party will not accept the outcome of any election in Ekiti State that does not comply with the best practices. The people of Ekiti must be allowed to vote freely and without molestation for the candidates of their choice on Saturday, and the votes must not only be counted, but they must count.

He urged President Goodluck Jonathan to “live up to his pledge, made several times over, that he would always ensure that elections held under his watch are free and fair.”

“We call on our international partners to condemn this growing impunity by the ruling party and the government it controls at the centre.

“Actions have consequences, and whoever fails to condemn the acts of impunity being perpetrated by the central government will not have the moral right to condemn the reactions that such actions may elicit,” the APC chairman said.