2023 PRESIDENTIAL AND NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS IN OSUN: OF VIOLENCE AND BLAME GAMES
Our attention has been drawn to a malicious piece authored by one Adedeji, entitled “How violence, fraud marred 2023 Presidential and National Assembly Elections in Osun”, currently trending in the social media. Ordinarily, we at at Wole Oke Media Team wouldn’t have reacted to the piece riddled with junks and fallacies, but for sanity and posterity sake, we considered it imperative to clear the coast, so that the good people of Osun State both home and abroad would not be mis-informed and as well create unwarranted bias against Hon Busayo Oluwole Oke and Senator Francis Fadahunsi who received overwhelming support by their constituents.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun State is not ready to own the blame over the violence that characterized the February 25 presidential election in the state. PDP won the election for its presidential candidate, former vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. It was indeed an unprecedented landmark victory in the state.
It is no gainsaying that the PDP and all Progressives Congress (APC) are sworn enemies in Nigerian political firmament, despite that politicians cross-carpet between the two at will, especially when they see the rays of hope in a particular party. Few weeks before the election, there had been series of cross-carpeting from the APC to the PDP, owing to the succour the PDP-led government had been able to inject into the lives of inhabitants of the state. The lapses of the outgone government were studied and used to improve on the lives of the people. This was the magic wand behind the overwhelming victory.
Adebayo Adedeji, the supposed public affairs analyst totally got it wrong in an opinion which he lazed with fallacious innuendos. He said: “In the political annals of Osun, it is doubtful if there has been an election as perfidious as that of February 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections. The poll ranks even worse than the infamous 2007 governorship election — the election where many voters were faced with assassination, violence and intimidation,” he claimed; but who is to blame?
It was not surprising that the last Saturday February 25 election was a battle to test power or consolidate on it between the PDP and the APC.
But who caused the anarchy visited on the state before, during and after the election? It was learnt that no fewer than Nine persons lost their lives for the electoral exercise, especially in Ijesa land and Ilesa in particular. The PDP has said for the umpteenth time that it went into the election with the mind to win and not cause any trouble, until scores of the PDP gladiators, particularly in Ilesa and Ijebu-Jesa were intimidated, maimed and killed.
In fairness to the Osun State ruling party, the people of the state would want to repay Governor Ademola Adeleke for the positive steps he has taken within the the few days he has spent as their governor; it is natural that they would follow him in the elections to justify their votes for him in the July 2022 election.
Recall that he has started paying the 30-months half salary arrears owed by the defunct APC government in the state.
Both the retired and active work force in the state are jubilating as the flames of their joy have rented the air since December, 2022. He (Adeleke) assumed office; he settled the hitherto dying pensioners and reimbursed the withheld few months co-operative savings of the staff by the previous Government . He also rolled out some pro-people policies that one would think would naturally endear him to the masses.
Let us digress a little: Adebayo Adedeji, the public affairs analyst cited earlier, said some controversial things in his piece; he said: “The last Saturday’s elections were literally held under siege, for many known thugs of the Peoples Democratic Party were on rampage in many part of the state, particularly in areas regarded as strongholds of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC).
“Osun State, for many years, was known for her peaceful ambience owing to the fact that criminal activities were rarely carried out because of the measures installed by the security agencies, in partnership with the state government. But this positive review fizzled out as soon as Senator Ademola Adeleke of the PDP was inaugurated as the state governor.
He erroneously said that “…in Osun, opposition members are daily bludgeoned to death and subjected to state-sanctioned terror. In the month of December alone, no fewer than 12 APC sympathisers, mostly members of the NURTW, were gruesomely murdered by hoodlums affiliated to the governing party.”
But the ruling PDP has maintained that it was the one suffering most of the violence being perpetrated in Osun. It has claimed to be at the receiving end of the attacks, even since Adeleke took over as the governor of the state, the PDP members, especially in Ilesa had been killed.
He posted that “days preceding the presidential and National Assembly elections, PDP thugs were in every nook and cranny of the state to create fears in the supporters and members of the APC”, the question is that if this is true, how did they get that substantial number of votes in the state? The claim is baseless.
He stated that “From Atakumosa to Ilesha, from Obokun to Oriade, all in Ijeshaland, the APC members died in multitudes, number not below 15, for no other reason than they wanted to carry out their civic duty.”
But who does this man want us to blame? The PDP whose members were allegedly mauled down in Ilesa and Oriade Local Government Areas of the state? We know that politicians, when they play their games, try to put veil over our eyes.
The writer of the opinion, at best, wrote a fallacious piece. PDP, obviously, was at the receiving end of the aftermath fracas. It is enough to think that the people of Osun followed their governor, based on the way he has benefitted them within the first hundred days he spent in office.
Leaders of the PDP in Osun State are still crying bitterly over the massacre allegedly meted in their members by the APC
Their claim is that the APC had recruited people who would spin out fallacious claims over the development.
The call that should go to security and law enforcement agents now is that detailed investigations should be carried out to figure out those who killed innocent Nigerians in Osun State, before, during after the presidential and National Assembly elections. PDP members should not be vilified by paid writers for exercising their franchise against the interest of the opposition.
The Adebayo Adedeji’s piece should be considered as a piece of writing from a leprous hand, fallicious, malicious, baseless and mere aspersions to smare the integrity of the PDP stalwarts in the state, especially in Ijesa land.
We call on security agents to kindly invite the nefarious author to justify his malicious and inciting piece aimed at disturbing the peaceful co- existence in the state.
Our categorically state here that our Principal, Hon Busayo Oluwole Oke ‘s election was free and fair devoid of violence. It was an election to justify his 4th term representation in the Green Chamber, a lot of people have benefited from him and therefore needed to cast their votes for him to continue his fruitful and meaningful representation.
This piece is packaged by Hon Wole Oke Media Team.
Site Title 