The Coalition of Political Parties in Oyo State on Monday staged a protest at the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission in Ibadan against the deployment of Rufus Akeju as the new Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state. Akeju, who was Osun REC and whose last assignment in the state was the conduct of the August 9 governorship election that brought in Governor Rauf Aregbesola for a second term, is replacing Nasiru Ayilara in Oyo State. The CPP members, in large numbers, stormed the premises of INEC, carrying placards with various inscriptions. Some of the inscriptions read, “Akeju na APC man”, “Oyo rejects Akeju” and “Akeju will mar Oyo election”. Our correspondent learnt that the protesters were people loyal to some political parties in the state and who felt that Akeju’s coming would favour the ruling All Progressives Congress in the state. Coordinator of the group, Moroof Akinwande, told journalists that Akeju’s record as INEC senior official inspired the protest. He said, “An umpire can’t be partisan, the man Akeju has been alleged to be an aide of Tinubu; he is not fit to conduct election in any state in Nigeria. He should be kept in the cooler in INEC headquarters in Abuja if the body can’t sack him. “Why should he be redeployed to Oyo State when he was asked to step aside in Osun State? “Give us somebody that will guarantee free and fair election, somebody that is alleged to be unfair cannot be said to be agent of free, fair and credible election, that’s what we are saying.” Ayilara, the outgoing REC in the state, has however described his successor as a man of integrity, who the people of the state should allow and support to do the job assigned to him. “It is a normal thing (redeployment) which is expected of anybody in the system to comply with. The exercise is to protect the integrity of the commission, to ensure that the election is fair, transparent and credible and it is a must to have a sitting REC,” said Ayilara, who added that the protest by the CPP was not properly channelled. Speaking on the telephone over protest against his redeployment, Akeju said that the people had the right to express their feelings, adding that no one had the right to stop him from performing his duty. He also said that the allegation that he was a card-carrying member of the APC was not true.
Posted on: Tue, 30 Dec 2014 04:01:51 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015