ALL is not well for Offa, Offa Local Government Area of Kwara State following last Saturday’s disputed council polls. The community and Ilorin, the capital city, have been seized by protests by aggrieved members of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The polls were adjudged peaceful, contrary to the build-up to the exercise. However, the APC, which claimed that it won the balloting, mobilised its members to embark on simultaneous protests at Offa and Ilorin, the state capital, following the declaration of the PDP candidate as the victor. They are demanding the official release of the results of the elections. The protests continued yesterday in Ilorin, coinciding with the swearing-in ceremony at the Government House of Popoola’s opponent in the re-run election, Oluwasegun Olanipekun. The protesters took off from the secretariat of the former Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), on Iloffa Road in Ilorin. Some of the protesters said they would adopt the Egyptians type of protest, by cordoning off the Ilorin residence of the chairman of the Kwara State Independent Electoral Commission, (KWASIEC), Alhaji Uthman Ajidagba, “until he does the right thing by declaring Popoola as the winner of the election.” Results announced by Ajidagba showed that the PDP candidate, Mr. Olanipekun, scored 35,937 votes, while Mr. Popoola of the APC secured 20,161 votes. But according to the figures supplied by the APC, Popoola actually scored 11,526 votes and not the 20,161 credited to him by the KWASIEC. Similarly, the party said Olanipekun got only 4,668 votes, and not the 35,937 votes allegedly awarded to him by the KWASIEC. So, which are the authentic results: those declared by the KWASIEC, which the APC said were padded; or the figures provided by the APC, which showed that even its candidate scored less than the votes declared for him by the electoral body? Here lies the dilemma in the Offa council poll, which has the potential of tainting the integrity and impartiality of the KWASIEC! At the commencement of the Fourth Republic, Jide Oyebiyi of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) was the council chairman of Offa. He was succeeded by Tajudeen Folaranmi, then of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The baton of leadership was ironically handed over to Olusegun Olawoyin, the first son of the late Chief Josiah Sunday Olawoyin, the late Asiwaju of Offa, and the doyen of progressive politicking in the state. Olusegun was also of the PDP. But there was a twist in the history of what was to follow, as Saheed Popoola, the successor of Olawoyin, emerged through the platform of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). Of the 16 councils in the state, only Offa was under the control of the opposition party, thus making the town the bastion of the progressive politics in the state. But the election won by Popoola in 2011 was challenged by the PDP till it got to the appellate tribunal, which ordered a re-run of the council poll, said to have been fraught with violence and irregularities. Popoola, due to the emergence of the All Progressives Congress (APC) — aftermath the merger arrangement by some progressive parties, contested the re-run election last Saturday, August 31, flying the flag of the APC. As the APC members continued their protest of the Offa council poll results, it would be recalled that on Thursday, May 23, this year, the state Governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, at the swearing-in of the commission, noted that “the next local government elections” in the state would serve a model to the conduct of similar polls across the states of the federation. Ahmed, who had urged the newly sworn-in members of the KWSIEC against unethical conducts, said they should discharge their assignment without fear or favour, in the overall interest of democratic growth in the state. Those sworn in then were Ajidagba (Chairman), and Mr. Abdulsalam Tejidini Ahmed, Magistrate Azeez Akinlani (Retd), Mr. AbdulRauf Ishola Ajao and Alhaji Ishola AbdulRaheem Ajibade (members). The governor, while reiterating the importance of accountability and probity in the course of conducting elections, said those appointed to serve as KWASIEC officials were chosen due to “their career proficiency and sound academic attainments.” According to him: “As we are all aware, KWASIEC is a statutory body that is fundamental to the smooth operations of the electoral process. Besides, the local government elections in Kwara State, which are the major responsibility of the commission, are fast approaching. “The need to therefore fill the vacancies in the commission became imperative to enable it prepare adequately for the impending elections.” The governor stated that credible elections were critical to good governance, stressing that as the tier of government closest to people, “local government elections are vital because the right choice at that level will have an immediate impact on our people and sustain confidence in our democracy.” He said the only way to sustain the nation’s democracy was to strengthen the electoral process and make governance more meaningful to the populace. He enjoined the commission members to utilise their sterling qualities and experiences to add value to the activities of the commission, especially through the conduct of free, fair and credible elections. “As you all know, public office is public trust. It is, therefore, incumbent on you to make equity, transparency and accountability your watchwords,” he said. “Furthermore, you must follow due process in all you do so that the state will record free, fair, and credible elections at the local government level. I assure you of logistic and other support necessary for your operations at all times.” Did the Offa council elections followed the parameters spelt out by Governor Ahmed? Definitely not, said the former chairman of the Caretaker Committee of the defunct ACN in Kwara State, Mr. Sola Iji, who described the election as the worst in the history of elections in the country. Iji, the Protem Chairman of the APC in the state, said all the results at the 12 electoral wards in the council, as presented and signed by the parties’ agents at the collation centres, gave victories to the APC candidate, Mr. Popoola in 11 wards. He wondered: “What could have happened between Offa and Ilorin where the results were announced that could have swung victories to the side of the PDP candidate.” Besides, Iji, queried the medium of the announcement of the results thus: “Why the choice of Radio Kwara? I think the practice is open secret balloting, where results are announced and the parties’ agents, with the copies of the results, will follow the announcement and correct whatever noticeable errors in them. “Why then the choice of the state-owned radio if the KWASIEC had nothing to hide?” Addressing reporters, Iji said the protesters had come to the KWSIEC headquarters, to register their outright rejection of the results. “If you have been following events of Saturday up till yesterday (Sunday) and this morning (Monday), you will discover that the local government election that was held in Offa, Offa local government area of the state on Saturday; the results were announced at the polling units; the results were collated in all the 12 wards. “Therefore, we approached the local government collation centres where we expected that the results collated at the wards would be collated for final announcement of the winner of the election. “Unfortunately, the returning officer, who is the local government electoral officer of the Kwara State Independent Electoral Commission (KWSIEC) just disappeared. He absconded and we waited there till about 10pm before the materials were moved to the headquarters of KWSIEC here in Ilorin that night. “We met with the Chairman of KWSIEC, Dr. Uthman Ajidagba; he feigned ignorance. He said he didn’t know where the electoral officer was and some of his junior officers. “We met with the chairman and about three or four other officers of the commission and they promised that the results would be announced. “They said we should return on Sunday morning by 10am, but surprisingly by around 5am, we started hearing from Kwara Radio, the same KWSIEC chairman announcing the false results.” Iji said it was not in Dr. Ajidagba’s place to announce any results. “The results ought to be announced at the point where the collation ought to have been concluded, which is the local government headquarters of KWSIEC,” he said. “For him to assume illegally the responsibility of the returning officer for the election in a local government is not acceptable. “We have rejected results because he knew that were not the results of the election conducted in Offa on Saturday. “So, we are here register our protest, to tell the whole world that KWSIEC has started on a journey it cannot foretell because our party, All Progressives Congress, will not accept it. “We know that we have won and that is why we are here peacefully to register our protest. Unfortunately, they have told us that the man (Ajidagba) is not in the office. “He is supposed to be in the office; he is a civil servant; he ought to be here, but he is not here. They have not told us of any ceremony that he is engaging in. “If he is engaging in any ceremony, we will move there to register our protest before everybody. As far as we are concerned, these results have not been announced. “We want him (Ajidagba) to give us the official results of the election and we should be there when the collation will be concluded. That is why we are here.”
Posted on: Wed, 04 Sep 2013 06:14:24 +0000
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