We saw it coming, therefore we need not be disappointed at all . It was a charade called Local Government Election. The notorious PDP thugs in collaboration with their party members took over the control of the exercise. They had a field day bastardizing democracy across the state.
It was an election characterized by threats, violence, shortage of materials, over voting, ballot snatching, ballot stuffing, manipulations, apathy and massive disenfranchising of the willing voters in the most shameful manner.
Just as I pointed it out in the last week edition of the Monday Morning Reflections series, so it happened on Saturday. I wrote: “This Weekend Local Government Election in Oyo State may not be Free, Fair and Credible Except…”. Yes it actually came to pass! It was a sham as predicted. When it comes to doing the wrong thing, Gov. Seyi Makinde will never disappoint you. The election was far from being fair, free and credible as earlier anticipated.
They announced that they won in all the thirty-three Local Governments. This is fallacious and evil. A daylight robbery for that matter. They performed woefully in many Local Governments across the state, especially in Ona Ara. They failed like no man’s business. We have in our possession the form EC8A result sheets exposing their folly. In a number of wards, our Councilors won fair and square. In Ward 01 of Ona Ara Local Government where I belong for example, the APC candidate won with a score of 253 votes to 188 votes by the PDP candidate. Any result contrary to this is dubious to say the obvious.
As the Local Government Collation Officer determined to do his job that evening, I, in the company of my assistance, Pastor Kolawole Oyelami was molested and practically dragged out of the hall where the Local Government Collation was scheduled to hold. They did not stop at that; they eventually chased us out of the premises. They threatened to waste our lives if we chose to be stubborn.
This experience actually reenacted the debate of the propriety in allowing the State Independent Electoral Commission to continue to handle local government elections. Just like the state police, Nigeria is not ripe for it. If it were to be the Independence National Electoral Commission (INEC) that handled the last weekend election in Oyo State, the story would have been different. The election actually exposed the unpopularity of the PDP as the ruling party in Oyo State. On a good day, PDP would have been beaten blue black and disgraced by the APC on Saturday.
I have a word for the Senior Advocate of Nigeria that lied for 365 days, assuring the people that free and fair Local Government election would be conducted by OYSIEC under his watch. Your integrity is soiled! You are worse than Maurice Iwu. Do you remember that man? Take it or leave it, your professional title has been remodeled to “Senior Advocate of Rigging”. It is so unfortunate that part of the problems we have in Nigeria today is the bar. Those that pride themselves as the “learned” are the problems. Learned what? Learned my foot!. But there are few of them that are assets to humanity. By their fruits, we shall know them.
To the opposition parties that took part in that “arrangee election”, particularly the candidates of the APC. We salute your courage . We celebrate you for spending your resources to deepening democracy. And I joined others to address you today as the heroes of democracy. Do not waver, let the fire in you continue to burn till 2027 when the opportunity will come once again to sweep the PDPigs out of Oyo State.
B. Aderemi Ogundele
(Jagunmolu)
