2019: Don’t turn Ogun into theatre of war, Isiaka warns opposition parties

The Gboyega Nasir Isiaka Campaign Organization (GNICO) has warned opposition parties not to turn Ogun State into a theatre of war ahead of the 2019 governorship election.

The warning came was as a result of the alleged destruction of campaign billboards of its governorship candidate, Prince Gboyega Nasir Isiaka, in some parts of the state, especially Abeokuta, the state capital.

Addressing newsmen on Friday, the Director General of GNICO, Engr. Anthony Ojesina, said that supporters of GNI and its campaign materials had become subject of attack since his candidate commenced his campaign on December 1.

The organization also accused the All Progressives Congress and the Allied People’s Movement of unleashing terror on its supporters during campaigns.

Ojeshina said the development could be a threat to the peaceful conduct of 2019 election in the state and thereby called on all security agencies not to allow the alleged reign of terror persist.

He explained that the worsening security situation was an attempt to throw the state into a state of emergency before and during the elections.

ALSO READ: 2019: Buhari endorses Abiodun, Ogun APC guber candidate

“On two occasions last week, our surveillance group met the hoodlums in action and upon seeing some faces they didn’t know, they jumped into their car and ran away. Some of them adorned branded apparels (T-shirts and car stickers) that gave them away as agents of the ruling APC and APM. Just four days ago, the police patrol van from the Ibara division accosted these hoodlums while throwing our boards into the gutter and defacing them. On sighting the police van parking by them, they again bolted away. Indeed, we got hints from the police to that effect.

“After having spent monies to make more A-Boards and putting them back on the roads two days ago, the agents of APC and APM went berserk and carted away the boards – throwing them into a deep canal at Omida road beside the palace of the Olubara of Ibara. We have since recovered the materials from the dump site. There are pictorial and video evidence to buttress our claims.

“We must state also that these nefarious and antisocial acts have been reported to the police for commensurate action. Even in Lagos State, the A-Boards of APC and PDP do coexist with no acrimony. We condemn these incidences in their entirety. Our party, ADC is peaceful and our governorship candidate, Prince Gboyega Nasir Isiaka (GNI) is peace-loving and has a history of violence-free, issues-based campaigns since 2011. We do not know why the opposition is frightened of competitive campaigns and hell-bent on bringing down the house. We urge that they halt these negative trend because we shall henceforth resist these shameful acts with all that is lawfully feasible,” Ojeshina said.

The Director-General of APM Campaign Council, Sarafa Ishola, declined comment while the Publicity Secretary of the Caretaker Committee of Ogun APC, Tunde Oladunjoye, said APC was not known for violence or removal of campaign advert materials.

“We believe the GNI Campaign Organisation has the wherewithal to know who has actually been removing its advert materials and that of APC candidate, Dapo Abiodun, across Ogun State, especially in Abeokuta; they should be courageous enough to name the persons and party and not lump APC together with the culprits.

“The APC and its candidates are running a decent, non-violent and issue-based campaign, devoid of violence and hate speeches. We want to put it on record that when the news of the attack on the convoy of ADC candidate broke out early December, our candidate, Prince Dapo Abiodun, put a call across to him to sympathize with and encourage him.

“That is the stock we are made of; we are not desperate; we are not intolerant and we are confident that Ogun people will listen to us and vote us in,” Oladunjoye added.