Governor-Elect of Osun State, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola took a swipe at the
Federal Government and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, accusing them of
militarizing the state during the Governorship elections with the intent
to intimidate and rig.
In a victory speech, Aregbesola said while military presence in the state
was highly unnecessary, “democracy is still gravely endangered in
Nigeria.”
His Speech reads:
After an unnecessarily tense, tortuous and even traumatic process, the
Independent National Electoral Commission this morning declared me as the
winner of the Osun state governorship election on the platform of the All
Progressive Congress (APC). On behalf of my party, we are delighted to
claim victory for our hard work, focus and dedication in this election. I
thank the Almighty God for our triumph at the polls, against all odds.
To the good people of Osun State goes our unflinching gratitude. We salute
your steadfastness, courage, loyalty, commitment and fierce determination
to defend your sovereign rights and the integrity of our nascent
democracy. You have demonstrated in this election that in a democracy,
power truly belongs to the people. I am humbled and honoured by your trust
and abiding faith in me and my party. I pledge that your confidence in us
shall never be betrayed or taken for granted.
Ordinarily, this should be a moment of joy and celebration consequent
upon the hard earned triumph of the people’s will. However, this election
shows that democracy is still gravely endangered in Nigeria. We witnessed
gross abuse of power and, of due process before, during, and even after
the actual voting process. It is so sad and unfortunate that what should
be a normal, routine process was maliciously allowed to snowball in to a
needless virtual war by the Federal Government and the PDP.
Osun state was unduly militarized in an unprecedented manner through
criminal intimidation and psychological assault on our people. This
election witnessed an abuse of our security agencies and amounted to a
corruption of their professional ethics and integrity.
The security agencies were unprofessionally utilized in Osun state to
harass, intimidate and oppress the people whose taxes are used to pay
their salaries and provide their arms. Hundreds of leaders, supporters,
sympathizers and agents of our party were arrested and detained. Also,
hundreds of other innocent citizens including women and the aged were
harassed, brutalized and traumatized. In spite of this condemnable
repression and abuse of human rights, the unflagging spirit of our people
triumphed.
Our victory is due to the steadfastness and resolute determination of our
people to assert and defend their rights. The PDP obviously did all it
could in a most desperate manner to steal the people’s mandate. A critical
analysis of the elections shows a trend of general low voter turnout
largely because of the atmosphere of deliberate tyranny and fear caused by
the excessive militarization of the state. Despite our victory, it is
pertinent to condemn and also point out the fact that the number of
accredited voters in most local governments was less than half of
registered voters. Against this trend, it is curious that the bulk of the
PDP candidate’s votes came from only four Local Governments- namely Ife
Central, Ife East, Ife North and Ife South. This suggests an inexplicable
large turnout in his stronghold which is a curious departure from the
general trend of voting across the state.
The outcome of this election, once again, shows the unswerving
determination of our people to ensure that democracy triumphs in Nigeria.
We have sent a strong signal to all and sundry that no might is powerful
enough to thwart the will of the people. This should always strengthen our
resolve to ensure that as from now on, every vote must not only be counted
but must count in this country. Nobody or party must ever exercise power
unreasonably at any level except in accordance with the will of the people
to whom sovereignty belongs.
Let me assure the good people of Osun state that I appreciate that this
victory is a reward for our hard work and commitment to the welfare of our
people. I promise that we shall not rest on our oars but shall be spurred
to work even harder with all well meaning people of the State of Osun and
the generality of Nigerians to continue to enjoy your trust and support.
You can be assured that we will leave no stone unturned in our continued
effort to transform Osun into a land of progress, prosperity and peace for
all with renewed fervour. I realize that this victory and the challenges
we went through is a call to greater service and sustained commitment to
our people. I pledge a rededication of myself to the service of our people
and the strengthening of democratic values in Osun and Nigeria generally.
Our country remains in political bondage and we must set her free.