Two days to Osun guber election, political parties hire thugs, seek spiritual backing
…Peace accord risks ill-fate
…Gun shots saturate concentrated areas
…Increased patronage for traditionalists as politicians seek supernatural-powers
By Moses Adeniyi & Uthman Salami
Defying implosion of military and security personnel into the State, political parties, their Candidates and die-hard supporters have resorted to employing thuggery for fierce face off towards the July 16th, Osun State Saturday gubernatorial poll Nigerian NewsDirect has gathered.
Desperation to win the election has graduated into parties and their candidates resorting to extrajudicial mechanisms to put strength to contest.
While NewsDirect gathered the heat rising from the resort to extrajudicial devices including employing thuggery, the deployment of security forces into the State have equally witnessed the rising resort to seeking supernatural powers.
As gunshots keep taking rounds across major metropoleis in the State, fears have continued to permeate concentrated locales of the State where the heat of political contest have been taking vibrating reflections.
Osogbo, the State Capital, Ikire, Ilesa the ancient city of Ife, Ede, among others, are centre points gathered to bear threats of thuggery and other forms of bellicose rantings.
Inter-party threat and counter-threat have been taking toll, as supporters of the major political parties are taking it tough to see their preferred candidates get the upper hand at the polls.
Meanwhile as threat of violence is taking a heat, the resort to supernatural powers have been observed to be forming another scheme of recourse into the build-up to the election.
NewsDirect gathered the concentration of sacrifices connoting resort to dark powers at strategic areas where political activities are taking concentrated form.
Meanwhile, beyond employing of traditionalists, resort to other faith-based interventions have been observed to have assumed a heightened turn as prayers and spiritual resorts for supernatural backing has attracted an unconventional dimension in a few days to the election.
…Peace accord risks ill-fate
Despite a peace accord held to appeal to contesting sides to uphold the sanctity of peaceful conduct, and the deployment of security forces, fear giving sensations of disruptions to day-to-day activities have permeated the State, as many have begun to take caution in their movements and business activities.
Following the fear of what damage violence in the poll may record, if actions are not taken to avert the perceived threats, the national leadership of the Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC) on Wednesday, pleaded with political parties fielding candidates in the Saturday’s governorship poll to rule-out resorting to the use of hoodlums to sponsor violence or inducement of security men during the poll.
In a statement by the IPAC National Chairman, Yabagi Sani, obtained in Osogbo, political parties and their candidates were urged to willingly commit themselves to avoiding actions capable of instigating violence or compromise the credibility of the poll.
The statement reads in part, “The political party leaders and candidates in the election must resist the temptation, out of desperation, to resort to the deployment of thugs or material and financial inducement of security agents and INEC officials to compromise any stage in the voting process.
“We are also very stridently appealing to the security agencies and their operatives engaged to provide security during the election to embark on their assignment with maximum professional and ethical standards.
“Electorate must resist all attempts to be deceived, intimidated or induced into compromising their fundamental, inalienable right to freely elect the political leaders of their choice.”
Violence and vote-buying, among others, have been feared to portend threats against the credibility of the Saturday poll.
The Police and other security agencies, including the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) have declared their readiness to man the election with sufficient manpower to forestall foul eventualities.
It has been gathered that the deployment of police personnel will also be augmented by soldiers, the Civil Defence Corps, and the Amotekun Corps.
Among others, the Police Force has said it would deploy the Federal Intelligence Bureau, Tactical Corps and the Special Forces to curb such malpractice as vote-buying.
Speaking at the Election Stakeholders’ meeting held in Osogbo on Tuesday, the Inspector-General of Police, Baba Alkali, had disclosed that 21,000 policemen would be deployed for the Governorship election.
Alkali, at the stakeholders meeting had warned that the police would not take it lightly with persons or group seeking to perpetrate vote-buying or any form of inducement in the Osun Governorship 2022 elections.
