The campaign council of Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State, Imole Campaign Council, has raised the alarm over the alleged arrest and intimidation of Accord Party members by soldiers during ongoing Saturday’s governorship election.
Spokesman for the council, Pelumi Olajengbesi, in a statement issued on Saturday, alleged that soldiers invaded Ijebu-Ijesa in Oriade Local Government Area around noon and began arresting Accord Party members who were at polling units to cast their votes.
According to the council, the soldiers were allegedly accompanied by members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and were not among the troops officially designated for election duties in Ijebu-Ijesa or Oriade LGA.
The campaign council described the development as unacceptable, alleging that the soldiers were being used to intimidate supporters of the Accord Party during the election.
“Soldiers must not make themselves tools in the hands of desperate power-seeking politicians,” the statement said.
It subsequently called on the Chief of Army Staff to intervene and halt what it described as the targeted arrest and intimidation of Accord Party members by soldiers allegedly manipulated by the APC.
“The Imole Campaign Council finds this development unacceptable. Soldiers must not make themselves tools in the hands of desperate power-seeking politicians.
“We call on the Chief of Army Staff to stop the targeted arrest and intimidation of Accord Party members by soldiers manipulated by the APC,’’ the statement partly read.
The allegation came amid a separate concern raised by Adeleke over the conduct of security personnel in his home town, Ede.
The governor, shortly after casting his ballot at Unit 9, Ward 2, Sagba Abogunde, in Ede North Local Government Area, alleged that a police officer identified by the nickname “London” had been deployed from Port Harcourt to intimidate voters and cause unrest.
Adeleke urged the Inspector-General of Police and other security agencies to investigate the alleged deployment and immediately redeploy the officer out of Osun.
“I want the Inspector-General of Police and all the security agencies to watch out, to be on the lookout for a police officer from Port Harcourt,” the governor said.
He stressed that he was not seeking confrontation but wanted the election to reflect the will of the people, insisting that Osun had experienced enough tension and did not need another flashpoint.
Adeleke also raised concerns about the collation of results, alleging that attempts were being made to bypass the established process of collating results from polling units to wards and subsequently to local government areas.
He claimed there were moves to conduct direct collation at the state capital, describing such a process as unacceptable and warning that any deviation from the prescribed procedure could cast doubt on the credibility of the final outcome.
“We also received information about our supporters being scared away in Modakeke and some areas in the state by some police officers to disenfranchise them,” the governor said.
Governor Adeleke, the candidate of Accord Party, is seeking a second term against the APC flag-bearer, Bola Oyebamiji, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate, Najeem Salam, among others.
