Though the March 18 Governorship and State House of Assembly elections had come and gone, the mayhem, manipulation, ballot box snatching, violence, rigging, disruption and other irregularities that characterised the exercise in Ogun State would for a long time be remembered.
While the votes and wishes of Ogun people were very clear, Political thugs led by one Akibu Titilayo, also known as Efele reportedly invaded various polling units in Ogun East, attacking people and destroying electoral materials, in a bid to save the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC from the imminent shame of defeat.
Places like Sagamu, Idowa, Ijebu-Igbo, Ososa, Atiba, Ijebu-Waterside, Remo North and Odogbolu were invaded by thugs who set electoral materials on fire, as officials of INEC and voters fled for safety, while those with no luck, were beating blue black.
In Imeko some thumb printed ballot papers for APC were discovered at the point of collation with other rigging methods discovered in some other places while at Itori-Odo in Abeokuta, the thugs broke ballot boxes.
Infact, a secondary school teacher, 52 year old Emmanuel Ademola Adeniran was one of the unfortunate victims who were beaten severely and he died two days after.
Aside these orgy of violence, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC which was meant to be a neutral arbiter turned itself into an agent of monumental fraud and a debacle to the mandate of the people. The commission displayed crass incompetence as it glaringly failed to conduct a free, fair and credible election while the ruling APC pushes INEC around with impunity.
The adhoc staff of INEC bowed to pressure from the anti-democratic forces of the Dapo Abiodun APC led administration by aiding the rigging pattern where bvas accreditation were inflated and already thumb printed papers were mixed with other ballot papers. How do you explain a polling unit in Abeokuta North where number of voters recorded were more than those accredited.
All these and other manipulations would not have been possible without the connivance and collaboration of some INEC staff.
It would shock you that all these were in an effort to re-elect the
incumbent Ogun State governor and governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Prince Dapo Abiodun, who despite the violence and cancellation was declared on Sunday as the winner of the election after allegedly polling 276,298 votes, while Ladi Adebutu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) scored 262,383 votes to come second.
This no doubt is not the real results as Dapo Abiodun was completely rejected throughout Ogun East where he hails from. Is it not shocking that he allegedly got bloc votes from places like Ifo, Obafemi-Owode , Sango-Ota where their roads are so bad and revolution against him was so pronounced? Dapo Abiodun lost his Remo constituency and this is a clear testament. How logical could he claim legitimacy to have won with votes from Ogun Central and Ogun West without the support of INEC.
INEC returning officer in Ogun State Prof. Kayode Adebowale, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan (UI), who announced the results whether out of threat or in completing a deal defied the electoral act despite protests from the PDP, that the governor could not be declared as re-elected because the total number of Permanent Voters Card (PVC) collected in polling units where elections did not hold or were disrupted as well as the rejected votes exceeded the margin of Mr Abiodun’s win.
“The electoral act 2022, Section 24 Sub-Section three says where an election has commenced and there is reason to believe that there is or has been substantial disruption of election in a polling unit or constituency or it is impossible to continue with the election, occasioned by the threat to peace and security of electoral officials and materials. The commission shall suspend the election and appoint another date for the continuation of the election or the process.”
“Secondly, invoking the principle of lead of margin enshrine in the electoral act 2022, the rejected votes according to results submitted to local government by local government are far higher than the lead of margin, the election shall be inconclusive and a rerun should be ordered where necessary.”
The question is, if governance is all about service, why the need to force yourself on the people? Infact, how do you sleep with a stolen mandate? Is your ambition worth the life of any Ogun citizen?
Indeed, it is a sad trajectory that INEC has turned itself into a willing tool in the hands of Dapo Abiodun and a major debacle to the mandate of Ogun people who voted against him.
Clearly, a vote of no confidence has been passed on Dapo Abiodun. His declaration by INEC was against the requirements and provisions of the electoral act. If Nigeria’s democracy must be protected, INEC must redeem it’s image.
All democratic watchers are being called upon to stand up against the present Ogun INEC which mission is to destroy this democracy by continuously thwarting the will of the people.
The commission’s integrity is hereby being challenged, as the names of the actors are now being written in history for posterity to judge.
Dayo Idowu is an indigene of Ogun State and a Public Affairs analyst from Odogbolu
