The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused the state Governor Ademola Adeleke and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), of riding on the blood of the people of Osun to fraudulently win last Saturday’s election.
Specifically, the party said the Governor and his party members practically stepped on the blood of the innocent members and supporters of the APC to achieve undeserved victory in the house of assembly elections.
According to the Acting State Chairman of the APC, Sooko Tajudeen Lawal, in a statement issued by the party’s Director of Media and Information, Chief Kola Olabisi, in Osogbo, the Osun State capital yesterday, the elections could better be described as a charade or facade because it was devoid of a level play ground.
Lawal stated that the information at his disposal revealed that the election was heavily militarised by Adeleke who used the Army, the Air Force, the Police who were leading some hoodlums loyal to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to attack, oppress, intimidate and wilfully disenfranchise some of the APC members and supporters from voting during the election across the state.
The Acting State APC chairman disclosed that the story from Ijesaland was pathetic as the PDP thugs led by the statutory security officers were openly attacking and chasing away members of the APC and supporters away from their polling units.
He stated that the PDP thugs who were emboldened by the protection of the security officers to carry out their dastardly acts also worked in connivance with some of the ad hoc staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) who were compromised in the discharge of their official responsibility in favour of the PDP candidates.
He hinted that the security officers went as far as holding down members and supporters of the APC for the PDP thugs to beat, humiliate and made to lie down immediately they knew that they wanted to vote for the APC.
Lawal disclosed that in some parts of Ijesaland, the PDP thugs were chasing away some of the APC members with the aid of the security agents.
He disclosed that the charade that was held last Saturday was not qualified for an election as it breached all the known principles of an election in any civilized society.
Lawal disclosed that the members and supporters of his party were stabbed, attacked, harrassed and intimidated in Ila-Orangun, Ikirun, Iragbiji, Ile-Ife, Ifetedo, Ipetumodu, Ikire, Iwo, Ejigbo, Osogbo, Olorunda and some other towns in the state.
He disclosed that the attack of members and supporters of his party by the PDP thugs which was started on the eve of the election up to the election day was still ongoing in Ilesa, Ifetedo as at the time of issuing this statement on Tuesday.
Lawal explained that the results of the heavily militarised, rigged and compromised elections could not be the best barometer to measure the popularity and acceptability of the APC as Adeleke had an ally in the security agents, the thugs and the pliable INEC staff to feign non-existing popularity and acceptability of the PDP in the state.
He disclosed that there were incidents of where the compromised INEC staff deliberately abandoned some already thumbprinted ballot papers in some polling units in Ifewara, the Atakumosa-East Local Government Council Area of the state when they had an information that the APC was having an upper hand in those units.
Lawal stated that he was disappointed in the conduct of some of the security agents who were assisting the PDP thugs in maltreating the APC members and supporters during the election.
He tasked the leadership of the statutory security agencies to beam their searchlight on some of their members whose conduct during the elections created a negative image for their respective agencies.
Lawal disclosed that his party would explore all the constitutionally-allowed means to prove to the whole world that the victory being paraded by the PDP candidates with reference to the last Saturday’s house of assembly election is a fluke dubiously achieved through the blood of the members and supporters of his party and other innocent citizens of the state.
He stated that it was for this reason that the PDP candidates could not rejoice over the pyrrhic victory because they are aware that it cannot stand the test of the tribunal.
Lawal enjoined all members and supporters of the party to continue to imbibe peace and utterly refuse to be provoked by the political vampires whose stock in trade is violence in all ramifications.