Osun guber primaries: APC aspirants induce voters with money as Oyetola wins

Adeoti, Omoworare, Babalola withdraw amid violence
Adeleke, Ogunbiyi, others in race for PDP ticket today

Amid vote buying, the Chief of Staff to Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State, Gboyega Oyetola, yesterday shot into the lead as three gubernatorial aspirants of the All Progressives Congress (APC) withdrew from the party’s direct primary election. The withdrawal came few hours before the commencement of the exercise, just as the State Working Committee (SWC) of the party reject the polls and call on the national leadership of the party to nullify the election and conduct fresh polls. The event was also marred by violence, as one of the electoral officials was macheted on the head during the polls.

The victim of the incident, which happened at ward 1 at Laro area, Osogbo during the conduct of the exercise was rushed to an undisclosed hospital before the intervention of the state police command. Saturday Telegraph investigations revealed that some of the governorship aspirants stormed voting centres with money ranging from N2, 000 to N3, 000 to induce voters.

Some voters ensured they collected the cash before the voting exercise as they queue while representative of some aspirants shared the money. While voters’ registers were made available in some wards, only counting was done in other wards. At Union Baptist Government School, ward 4, Osogbo, Oyetola, commended the security and electoral officers for peaceful conduct of the primary. Another aspirant, Kunle Rasheed Adegoke (K-Rad) alleged that only one register was brought to the 10 polling units in his ward at Ward 3, Olorunda Local Government, Osogbo.


He said no voting material was taken to ward 9, 10 and 11 in Boripe Local Government Area of the state where he monitored, saying, “at a ward in Olorunda, they didn’t use voters’ register, they just asked people to queue and they were counting them and in the whole of Boluwaduro Local Government, no accreditation was done”. The Secretary State Government (SSG), Alhaji Moshood Adeoti, announced his withdrawal from the race due to the alleged perfection of plan to impose Oyetola. Other aspirants that withdrew from the race are Senator Babajide Omoworare representing Osun East in the National Assembly and Elder Peter Babalola.

In his withdrawal statement signed by the Director of Media and Publicity of the Moshood Adeoti Campaign Organisation (MACO), Kayode Agbaje, the SSG said his decision to withdraw from the race is hinged on his resolve to abide by a resolution of his Osun West Senatorial District dissociating the area from the exercise.

“In addition, the frontline governorship aspirant has stated that his withdrawal is not adding credibility to a skewed and jaundiced process already designed to favour an anointed aspirant.” Adeoti however informed his teeming supporters that he is still very much in the race to contest and win the governorship election come September 22, 2018. In the same vein, Omoworare said that he was not participating in the primary election of his party because of his desire to see his party to victory at the general polls. Omoworare made this known in a statement is-sued by his Director of Communications, Comrade Tunde Dairo. He said: “In view of obvious political realities which are beyond our control, Senator Babajide Omoworare will not present his ward agents, mobilise his supporters or deploy resources for the APC governorship primary election of July 20th, 2018”.

“This development is with the ultimate view of ensuring party cohesion and for the APC to secure victory during the September 22nd governorship election.” The lawmaker said his non-participation 

does not translate to leaving the party saying he still remains a member of the ruling party. However, hopes of many participants in the 332 wards of the 30 local governments were yesterday hanged in the balance following the late arrival of electoral materials and absence of electoral officials at different centres designed for the exercise to take place. Despite the large turn out, many of the participants waited endlessly for hours before the arrival of materials while the whereabouts of the electoral officials could not be ascertained. In most of the places visited, shouts of Gboyega Oyetola, an acclaimed favoured aspirants in the primary election Christened as ‘Ileri-oluwa’ rented the air as his followers repeatedly saying,’Ileri-oluwa lolese’ meaning,

“It is only Ileri Oluwa that can do it”. In Osogbo, the state capital and Iragbiji, the hometown of Oyetola as well as other towns like Ilesa, Ilobu, Ikirun, and Ogbaagba, there was large turn out of people while in Ayedaade and Irewole local governments areas, electorate were seen waiting for materials. At ward 4, Otun Olufi Secondary School, Gbongan, voters were seeing waiting for electoral materials just as in ward 9, AUD primary school, Atile Ikire also. At ward 2, Molete area of Iwo, accreditation of voters started at 2.00p.m instead of the earlier scheduled 8.00a.m. Speaking with newsmen on the late arrival of electoral materials, the state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Rafiu Isamotu, described the development as unexpected but explained that the exercise was peacefully conducted through out the state and described the direct mode of primary election adopted by the leadership of the party as progressive and economical.

Meanwhile, 11 of the 16 members of the State Working Committee have faulted the direct primary method adopted to pick the flag bearer. Addressing newsmen in Ilesa, the acting chairman of the party, Alhaji Isa Azeez Adesiji, said the SWC rejected the governorship primaries declaring the exercise as null and void. He argued that direct primaries are a step taken contrary to the expected democratic norms and which may eventually spell soon for the party. “We wish to bring to your notice that before the direct primary, all state apparatus were made available to the ‘anointed’ candidate, therefore depriving others of a level playing field. “In view of all the reasons stated earlier and for record purposes, we all hereby counsel against the adoption of the direct primary being used for July 20th 2018 primary election while we dissociate ourselves from whatever the outcome of governorship primary.

“To us, the governorship primary in Osun APC is hereby rejected by us and therefore null and void, the SWC declared. The SWC had on Monday the suspended Gboyega Famodun and Alhaji Rasaq Salinsile as chairman and secretary and thereafter announced Adesiji and Alhaji Bakare Idera as acting chairman and acting secretary respectively. Flanked by members of SWC while dissociating the committee from the primary election, Adesiji appealed to the national leadership of the party and other stakeholders to conduct fresh primary polls in line with delegate system as done in other state and during the presidential primary that picked president Muhammadu Buhari in 2014.

New Telegraph