by Gbenro Adesina –

Apprehension grips the State of Osun as political parties engage in desperate moves preparatory to the 9 August Governorship election.

A few days

to the gubernatorial election in Osun State, apprehension is rising as all stakeholders are concluding necessary arrangements for success at the election. Very conspicuous is the heavy presence of armed personnel of the Directorate of State Security, DSS, taking over Osogbo, the state capital. The men, dressed in black trousers and t-shirts, wearing bullets around their necks and bellies, act as if they were under the influence of drugs. Hundreds of them were sighted in front of their headquarters at Abere yelling and carelessly wielding their guns of different sizes. On Wednesday 30 July, around 3:30pm, they wore hoods like terrorist groups and, in convoys stormed the major roads and streets in the state capital, shooting sporadically and stalling vehicular traffic for several hours. Most residents of the city condemned the DSS for this behaviour, wondering what the show of strength was meant to achieve.

On the part of the staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, they are having sleepless nights putting in place apparatus for a successful election. Shedding light on the present activities of the commission, its spokesperson in the state, Mrs. Adenike Tadese, in an interview on phone said the staff were going through necessary training, adding that stakeholders were not left out in the area of enlightenment.

She said that since 9 July, the commission had given soft copies of the registered voters to all the political parties through their chairmen, adding that permanent voter cards for those that registered up till March this year were ready and were being collected at the secretariats of the 33 local government areas and area offices in the state. She urged those that had not collected their permanent voter cards to do so on or before Monday. She stressed: “The deadline for the collection of the permanent voter cards is Monday 1st August, 2014. It will stop at 4pm, but I want to assure the electorate that we will not stop giving out the permanent voter cards until the last man on the queue has collected, even if it means working till 6pm that day.”

Pointing out that no one should rule out the deployment of soldiers to the state during the election, Tadese noted that all the security outfits – Police, DSS, Civil Defence, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Immigration and Customs – would be on ground for the election. She disclosed that 29 election monitoring groups, made up of 19 local and 10 foreign groups would be on ground for the election and appealed to all the political parties to behave themselves during the election.

Meanwhile, the two major political parties that will be slugging it out, PDP and All Progressives Congress, APC, in their last-minute scheming have embarked on aggressive campaigns, preparing their loyalists for the roles they will play in the election. For instance, PDP on Wednesday, 30 August, conducted lectures for their party agents at their party secretariat in Osogbo for several hours. The lecturer told them that they must not move an inch out of the polling booth during the casting and counting of votes. The lecturer assured them that the election is a battle already won even before the day of the election, saying that stakeholders in the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties, CNPP, had assured them that their members would vote for them. “Don’t mind whatever you are reading in the newspapers. They are just the imagination of the opposition. We will win the election,” the lecturer stated.

The Director-General, Iyiola Omisore Campaign Organisation, Akogun Lere Oyewumi and other chieftains of PDP refused to grant our correspondent interview to clear some allegations levelled against the party. Among the allegations was that it would make use of federal might during the election. It was also gathered that they had sewn police uniforms which would be distributed to thugs on election day to carry out some dastardly acts. Also, PDP is alleged to have printed ballot papers which it would use to achieve victory. Also, security personnel, especially the police, DSS and soldiers, will be used to intimidate the opposition.

However, the two political parties will hold a mega rally before the election to seek the votes of the electorate. While PDP’s will hold in Osogbo on Saturday 2 August, with President Jonathan and other eminent PDP stalwarts in attendance, APC’s will hold on Monday 4 August.

The magazine further gathered that the PDP has collected telephone numbers of all the Youth Corps members who will serve as ad hoc staff of INEC and presently collecting the numbers of the National ID of the electorate and allegedly giving then N10,000. They allegedly promised financial reward of N10,000 each to individuals who vote for the party on election day.

But there are strong indications that PDP might not win the election, except it is rigged, because the majority of the electorate claim they will vote for the incumbent governor because he has served them well. One of them, a trader, said, “Everybody always looks forward for the campaign of Aregbesola but what I hate is when his campaign falls on market day. If that happens, no one will sell because the market will be deserted as everyone will follow Aregbesola. Aregbesola really has followers. He is a good man. They say that President Goodluck Jonathan is denying the state its allocation but the man keeps working. Though, I would have said that each governor should be spending only one term so that they can allow other people to get there but for now, I will vote for Aregbesola for second term.”

The President of O’Widows of the State of Osun, Mrs. Olapoju Funmilayo, who lost her husband 10 years ago, in a chat with the magazine said all the widows in the state will vote for Aregbesola. “Life was so tough during the days of PDP government in Osun State. I am sure you know what it takes to be a widow. I am the only one taking care of the children. I didn’t know that my children can go to university. When my child finished from Ibadan Poly, Eruwa Campus, I told him to look for something to do but when Aregbesola came on board and reduced the school fee of Osun State University from N250,000 to N100,000, I told my son to go and seek admission to the university and right now he is in 200 level studying English. Aregbesola has done many projects that touch the lives of common people. It will be a disaster if Aregbesola does not return,” she said.

In a speech read at a special prayer for, and endorsement of, Aregbesola for second term, the state coordinator of O’Widows, Mrs. Olanike Owolabi, said the entire widows of the state would do their very best to make the second term of Aregbesola a reality.

Former treasurer, Association of Nigeria Theatre Practitioners, ANTP, in the State of Osun, Mr. Oladeebo Abiodun Akeem, condemned the way PDP was going about its campaign and rallies, which he described as thuggish: “They mask their faces and boast around that they will win because they have Federal Government’s backing and that the Minister of Police Affairs, Mr. Jelili Adesiyan, would deploy police to harass the opposition. They go about destroying billboards and posters of Aregbesola. They destroyed his posters and billboards at Ilesa, Ile-Ife, Osogbo, Ejigbo, Iwo, Ede and Ikire. This is not good. Rather than being violent, they should sell themselves and their plan to the people.”

While APC deputy treasurer in Osun, Prince Adekunle Benson Adesina, advised the federal government not to militarise the election system, he debunked all the allegations against Aregbesola’s administration. “As regards the allegation that Aregbesola has failed in his road construction, the road projects in the state are classified into three which are local government, state and federal. The state government ensured that road projects of at least 10km in each local government are constructed and completed and commissioned, and 85 per cent of the state roads have been completed and commissioned…”

However, Jimoh Gbadeyanka, a staunch PDP supporter in Ede, told TheNEWS: “Aregbesola and his APC are guilty of certain things they accuse our PDP of. Did Aregbesola not distribute rice to woo people? Did he not share customised recharge cards in MTN, Glo and Etisalat formats. His photos are clearly printed on them. I can give you if you want.”