Osun 2022: Fear of violence as APC chooses candidate today

ALL eyes are on Osun State today as the ruling All Progressives Party (APC) conducts its governorship primary. 

The two camps in today’s intra-party election on Friday continued to talk tough and trade accusations of plans to unleash violence on the state. 

But security operatives have been given the marching orders to ensure a peaceful conduct of today’s exercise. 

Soldiers, policemen, men of the State Security Service (SSS) and those of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) on Friday persisted in their patrol of the state, especially the capital, Osogbo. 

They were sighted in their numbers on Friday in places like Ogo-Oluwa-Olaiya Junction, Ikirun Road, Ede Road, Ilesha Road and other areas of the town. 

Also seen moving round the nooks and crannies of the state in a show of force on Friday were operatives of the South West security outfit, Amotekun. 

Sources within the security circles hinted that the round-the-clock surveillance activities would continue during and after the primary to prevent any breakdown of law and order and ensure the safety of the citizens. 

The Special Adviser to the State Governor on Political Affairs, Sunday Akere, told Saturday Tribune on Friday in Osogbo that the present administration in the state would do everything to protect the lives and property of its citizens. 

Akere stated that Governor Gboyega Oyetola, as the chief security officer of the state, on Thursday, held a meeting with the heads of all security agencies in the state to ensure that peace and order prevail before, during and after today’s primary of the ruling party. 

He stressed while security operatives would be on the ground to do their duty, there was the need for APC members and supporters and the entire people of the state to comport themselves to make the exercise a crisis free one. 

The governor’s aide warned troublemakers to keep off the state as whosoever is caught causing problem would be made to face the law. 

Also, the state Commissioner for Information and Civic Orientation, Mrs Funke Egbemode, said measures had been taken by the state government to keep misguided elements in check. 

According to Egbemode, the government is not taking the credibility of the intraparty election and the safety of the lives and property of the citizens with levity and therefore warns miscreants to stay away from the election centres or be made to face the wrath of law. 

The commissioner said security operatives were ready to deal with any ugly situation during the election and warned parents to prevail on their wards not to involve in unlawful acts. 

Egbemode also said that the government had urged all state stakeholders to conduct themselves according to the rule of law while partaking in the exercise. 

In the same vein, the chairman of the APC in the state, Gboyega Famodun, said the party had made all necessary arrangements to ensure the success of today’s primary. Speaking through his aide, Kola Olabisi, Famodun urged stakeholders to do away with acts capable of causing confusion and bringing the credibility of the exercise into question. 

Similarly, the party’s Public Relations Officer, Kunle Oyatomi, in a statement, encouraged members of the party across the state to troop to the voting centers in their wards as from 8.00 a.m. today and participate in the direct primary. 

“The APC candidate for the July 16 governorship election will be elected by all card-carrying members of the party through direct voting to ensure that whoever wins in the Saturday exercise will represent the party in the July 16 governorship election. 

“We all have a stake in deciding who becomes the candidate of the party and it is a duty we all must be proud to perform on Saturday in the best interest of the state in general and our party in particular,” he emphasised. 

We are battle-ready –Security agencies 

Also, the state commandant of the NSCDC, Emmanuel Ocheja, ordered a full-scale covert operation to arrest any individuals planning to foment trouble and disrupt the peace being enjoyed by the people of the state during today’s primary. 

Ocheja, in a statement by the command’s Public Relations Officer, Atanda Olabisi, said: “The directive is against the backdrop of insinuations and allegations in some quarters that some nefarious elements have stockpiled the uniforms of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and the Nigeria Correctional Service with the intent of distributing them to non-state actors for use during the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary election in Osun State scheduled for Saturday, February 19, 2021.” 

He gave the assurance that machinery had been set in motion to clamp down on any impostor or group of impostors that might be daring to wear the uniform or any accoutrements of the NSCDC to unleash mayhem on the state. 

“We shall provide adequate security and maintain peace in the state at all times. The Corps is a neutral and nonpartisan organisation whose good name, image and principles were built by dint of hard work, patriotism, excellence in service delivery, and huge sacrifice to the nation. 

“We will therefore not allow anyone under any guise to destroy the integrity or progress of the Corps but we shall continue to work assiduously to defend our mandate,” Ocheja said. 

He implored members of the public to be security conscious and report any suspicious movement of individuals or groups to the NSCDC office nearest to them during and after the election. 

“We at NSCDC shall continue to uphold the cardinal principles of rule of law in tandem with global practice. We shall not deviate from the tenets of impartiality and professionalism. What we will not condone is the wanton breakdown of law and order under any guise,” he added. 

The NSCDC commandant warned parents and guardians to discourage their children and wards from being used by desperate politicians as anyone found to have disrupted the peace of the state would be dealt with. 

Also speaking on their preparedness, the police in the state, through their spokesperson, Yemisi Opalola, stated that men had been deployed across the length and breadth of the state to ensure the safety of the people of the state. 

Opalola stated that the police would not compromise their stand to deal with lawbreakers in respect of today’s APC primary and then warned parents to protect their children from being used to break the law. 

“Preparation for tomorrow is intact. We have more men now. I won’t say the actual number of those deployed. By God’s grace, we have mounted checks on all the state’s boundaries. We are ready for the task and there is no cause for alarm,” Opalola said. 

Aregbesola’s faction alleges invasion of thugs 

A faction of the party belonging to the immediate past governor of the state, Rauf Aregbesola, on Friday, accused the state chapter of the party of importing thugs into the state for today’s governorship primary. 

Mr Rasaq Salinsile, who claims the chairmanship of the faction, made the accusation at a press conference in Osogbo. 

Addressing newsmen at the event, an aspirant and former Secretary to the State Government, Moshood Adeoti, alleged that the Oyetola-led administration in the state had perfected plans to rig the election. 

He said the primary election would not be free and fair because the register of APC members was not made available to him and his faction. 

Adeoti said: “If there is no deliberate attempt to manipulate the primary process, it is important to make the membership register available, display it for claims and objections before using it for tomorrow’s (today’s) primary election or any time it will come up. 

“In spite of the anomalies raised, we will not boycott the primary election. My supporters and I are going to participate in the primary election tomorrow (today). We are not going to boycott. I want to urge all APC members to go to their centres in their various wards to vote for me. 

“I call on the security agencies in the state to provide adequate security for our people. As said earlier, the governor’s camp is planning violence but we are resolute and believe that the security agents will act responsibly.” 

Politicians stockpiling arms, ammunition, Olowu raises the alarm 

The Olowu of Kuta, Oba Adekunle Makama Tegbosun III, also on Friday, raised the alarm that some non-state actors, at the behest of some politicians in the state, were stockpiling arms and ammunition in respect of today’s exercise. 

The Oba, in a statement he personally signed, said he was disturbed by the activities of “non-state actors who have infiltrated the state in order to perpetrate violence.” He admonished politicians and their supporters to eschew violence, saying, “it is an ill wind that blows no one any good.” 

The Olowu called on law enforcement agencies in the state to double their effort and prevent any breakdown of law and order. 

He urged the people of the state to join in the security crusade so that those hell-bent on perpetrating violence would be fished out and made to face the law.