Governor-Elect of Osun State, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola took a swipe at the
\nFederal Government and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, accusing them of
\nmilitarizing the state during the Governorship elections with the intent
\nto intimidate and rig.<\/p>\n
In a victory speech, Aregbesola said while military presence in the state
\nwas highly unnecessary, “democracy is still gravely endangered in
\nNigeria.”<\/p>\n
His Speech reads:<\/p>\n
After an unnecessarily tense, tortuous and even traumatic process, the
\nIndependent National Electoral Commission this morning declared me as the
\nwinner of the Osun state governorship election on the platform of the All
\nProgressive Congress (APC). On behalf of my party, we are delighted to
\nclaim victory for our hard work, focus and dedication in this election. I
\nthank the Almighty God for our triumph at the polls, against all odds.<\/p>\n
To the good people of Osun State goes our unflinching gratitude. We salute
\nyour steadfastness, courage, loyalty, commitment and fierce determination
\nto defend your sovereign rights and the integrity of our nascent
\ndemocracy. You have demonstrated in this election that in a democracy,
\npower truly belongs to the people. I am humbled and honoured by your trust
\nand abiding faith in me and my party. I pledge that your confidence in us
\nshall never be betrayed or taken for granted.<\/p>\n
Ordinarily, this should be a moment of joy and celebration consequent
\nupon the hard earned triumph of the people\u2019s will. However, this election
\nshows that democracy is still gravely endangered in Nigeria. We witnessed
\ngross abuse of power and, of due process before, during, and even after
\nthe actual voting process. It is so sad and unfortunate that what should
\nbe a normal, routine process was maliciously allowed to snowball in to a
\nneedless virtual war by the Federal Government and the PDP.<\/p>\n
Osun state was unduly militarized in an unprecedented manner through
\ncriminal intimidation and psychological assault on our people. This
\nelection witnessed an abuse of our security agencies and amounted to a
\ncorruption of their professional ethics and integrity.<\/p>\n
The security agencies were unprofessionally utilized in Osun state to
\nharass, intimidate and oppress the people whose taxes are used to pay
\ntheir salaries and provide their arms. Hundreds of leaders, supporters,
\nsympathizers and agents of our party were arrested and detained. Also,
\nhundreds of other innocent citizens including women and the aged were
\nharassed, brutalized and traumatized. In spite of this condemnable
\nrepression and abuse of human rights, the unflagging spirit of our people
\ntriumphed.<\/p>\n
Our victory is due to the steadfastness and resolute determination of our
\npeople to assert and defend their rights. The PDP obviously did all it
\ncould in a most desperate manner to steal the people\u2019s mandate. A critical
\nanalysis of the elections shows a trend of general low voter turnout
\nlargely because of the atmosphere of deliberate tyranny and fear caused by
\nthe excessive militarization of the state. Despite our victory, it is
\npertinent to condemn and also point out the fact that the number of
\naccredited voters in most local governments was less than half of
\nregistered voters. Against this trend, it is curious that the bulk of the
\nPDP candidate\u2019s votes came from only four Local Governments- namely Ife
\nCentral, Ife East, Ife North and Ife South. This suggests an inexplicable
\nlarge turnout in his stronghold which is a curious departure from the
\ngeneral trend of voting across the state.<\/p>\n
The outcome of this election, once again, shows the unswerving
\ndetermination of our people to ensure that democracy triumphs in Nigeria.
\nWe have sent a strong signal to all and sundry that no might is powerful
\nenough to thwart the will of the people. This should always strengthen our
\nresolve to ensure that as from now on, every vote must not only be counted
\nbut must count in this country. Nobody or party must ever exercise power
\nunreasonably at any level except in accordance with the will of the people
\nto whom sovereignty belongs.<\/p>\n
Let me assure the good people of Osun state that I appreciate that this
\nvictory is a reward for our hard work and commitment to the welfare of our
\npeople. I promise that we shall not rest on our oars but shall be spurred
\nto work even harder with all well meaning people of the State of Osun and
\nthe generality of Nigerians to continue to enjoy your trust and support.
\nYou can be assured that we will leave no stone unturned in our continued
\neffort to transform Osun into a land of progress, prosperity and peace for
\nall with renewed fervour. I realize that this victory and the challenges
\nwe went through is a call to greater service and sustained commitment to
\nour people. I pledge a rededication of myself to the service of our people
\nand the strengthening of democratic values in Osun and Nigeria generally.
\nOur country remains in political bondage and we must set her free.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30079,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n