Opposition parties in Ogun State have disclosed plans to take to the streets in protest against the November 16 local government election if it fails to be free and fair.
The parties who spoke separately in an interview with DAILY POST on Tuesday advised the Ogun State Independent Electoral Commission, OGSIEC, to uphold its credibility and avoid the wrath of the people.
The state’s publicity secretary for the Labour Party, LP, Tokunbo Peters, stated that the party’s collation agents would be present in all polling units to ensure that the results declared by OGSIEC tally with what was declared at the polling units.
Peters stated that if the announced results were contrary, the party would mobilise its supporters to protest the results.
Speaking on the party’s preparedness to participate in the elections, he stated that a grassroots campaign has been taken to all 20 local government areas of the state
“The Labour Party in the state is fully prepared for this election. We have collation agents that would be at the wards and local government and we would insist they give us the result sheet immediately; they count the votes at the polling unit and if the result declared is different from what was declared at the polling unit we are going to protest. Aside from going to court, we are going to call on our supporters to protest the result.”
DAILY POST reported that Governor Dapo Abiodun had on Sunday said all opposition parties in the state will be invisible and unpopular in the November 16 local government elections.
The governor bragged that all APC, which is in power, will win by a landslide in each of the state’s 20 LGAs, given the performance of his administration over the last five years and the calibre of the candidates it is fielding.
In response, Peters stated that the APC “has failed both the state and nation at large” and that they are sleeping instead of campaigning and are unable to rally support.
“We know that they (APC) are planning to rig the election, and that is why they can come out and say the opposition is not on the ground, that they do not exist; that is a big lie because the only way APC can win any local government is by rigging,” he said.
Tunde Oladunjoye, the APC publicity secretary for the APC, countered that only the APC has projects and programmes that it can use to campaign out of all the parties vying for local government posts.
Oladunjoye insisted that the party was ready to win and that locals were reassuring them that their support for the party was unwavering.
He said: “For the November 16 local government election, I want to assure you that Ogun State APC is fully prepared for that election, not only to participate but to win. We are not only a political party; we are also the ruling party in the state.”
Also, the state chairman of PDP, Abayomi Tella, urged OGSIEC and other political parties to follow the guidelines of the election to avoid any issues.
“Our party is not violent. Whatever happens, we will take it in good faith if it is done well following the guidelines of the elections. Part of it is that we voted in the poll and our vote must be counted and announced. once that is done, we don’t have any problem, but if it is not done, we would resist any to attempt to do it behind the door.
“Whatever they say we must comply with, but we can not be complying with it, and then another person is not complying, there will be issues, but as long as we all comply with the guidelines, then there is no problem,” he said.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the Inter Party Advisory Council, IPAC, and state chairman of the Action Alliance, AA, Abayomi Sanyaolu, reaffirmed the party’s preparedness and emphasised that OGSIEC had pledged a free and fair election and would hold them by their word.
Responding, the OGSIEC chairman, Babatunde Osibodu, assured that all political parties would be treated equally and that the election would be transparent, free, fair and credible.
He urged people of the state to cast their votes without fear on the day of the election, adding the commission is collaborating with all security agencies in the state to ensure maximum security.