OSUN GUBER ELECTION: FASHOLA CONGRATULATES AREGBESOLA, THE PEOPLE; CONDEMNS BRUTALITY AND HARASSMENT BY SECURITY AGENCIES Says victory by APC shows that if the people stand up for what they believe in no force is greater than the people’s will Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, SAN, Sunday congratulated Governor Rauf Aregbesola and the people of the State of Osun for the victory at last Saturday’s Governorship polls even as he described as nightmarish the night before the elections saying that the All Progressives Congress (APC) deserves an apology for the harassment and brutalization of its members by security agencies. Fashola, who spoke to newsmen during an interactive session at the Lagos House, Marina, said Governor Aregbesola and the Osun State Chapter of the APC deserve congratulations for their steadfastness in the face of massive harassment and brutalization by the security forces sent by the ruling party at the Centre to manipulate the course of the exercise. He described as totally misconceived to the justification for the massive deployment of security forces in an election adding that in other parts of the world security agencies are set up to defend their people and stand as vanguard between the people and those who threaten them and not to harass and brutalize them. Fashola said the people of Osun deserved commendation for standing firm in the face of very brutalizing harassment adding that in that circumstance he expects an apology from the ruling party to the All Progressives Congress for the brutality and harassment of members of the party on the night before as, according to him, “security agents had no right to arrest APC members without any electoral charge”. “If I were the President I would feel disappointed that security agencies of Nigeria were actually arresting members of one political party without any electoral charge on the night before the election. I think in those circumstances, I will expect to hear an apology to the APC and the people of the State of Osun in the aftermath of the election”, he said. Fashola said the time has come for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to look more vigorously at the nation’s electoral laws and see what role security agencies have to play in terms of whether or not the rules have been complied with adding that the process is as important as the result. According to the Governor, “If people come out to beat their chest after an election and say ‘well, you know what, we gave people money and we gave people rice’, those are clear admission, public admission of inducement. Can INEC truly and sincerely say it has conducted a free and fair election when parties in that election admit inducement of people which is an infraction of the electoral law?” He expressed surprise that after the experiences of June 12, 1993, some people still seem not to cherish democracy enough to desist from deliberately acting in ways capable of undermining “the process to this slowly aging and maturing democracy”. Noting that Public Service, government and governance are “all about development of people, reducing poverty and giving people the fighting chance to get on with their life”, Governor Fashola said a government that has done that would be confident to approach elections and face the citizens with its results at any time. The Governor, however, expressed dismay that this has hardly been the case in Nigeria where instead of a government that has clearly performed coming out confidently to claim victory based on its impressive scorecard, it would spend pre-election night going to retrieve its members and officers from detention from Gestapo-like kidnapping. He added, “This is not the way it should be”. “If this is about the future of Nigeria, the question I am asking is, how involved are our children in the process? What kind of message is this sending to young people about the way government is built and prepared? Will this encourage them to come and participate in the development of their country and is it fair to them?”, he asked. Describing the electoral victory in Osun as a blessing of governance, Fashola explained that it is a blessing in the sense that “forces of repression and their agents have been stopped in their tracks. It shows that if people stand firm for what they believe in no force is greater than the will of the people”. Commenting on whether or not the election would serve as a litmus test for the 2015 General Elections, Fashola reiterated that his main worry was the continued use of the armed personnel at elections pointing out that except for the 2003 and 2007 elections when cases of ballot box snatching were recorded, the electorates have generally comported themselves well in subsequent elections. “What we have seen is that in most elections, citizens have comported themselves. So it is an institutional problem now by those who are organizing the elections, how logistically are they prepared?’, the Governor said citing a case in Anambra State where a candidate’s strong constituency had less than half the voters able to vote in the election. “It wasn’t the fault of the citizens”, he said. He said the people of Nigeria would continue to see the revelations of what went under on the night before the Osun elections which he described as nightmarish adding, “In terms of preparing for the 2015 elections, this should not happen”. On the reported non-acceptance of the election result by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Fashola declared, “I am not surprised that they refused to accept the result. They have been sore losers time and again. They have manipulated the process to emasculate opposition. And really why would anyone be surprised that we won? We campaigned on the basis of promises that we made to the people when we sought the mandate of the people of Osun in ACN in 2007. We are campaigning now on the basis of what we have done”. “The people have voted on the basis of what they have benefitted, so the refusal to congratulate is neither here nor there. What is important is that we have prevented the attempt to steal what they did not earn”, the Governor said.
Posted on: Mon, 11 Aug 2014 08:19:15 +0000
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