By Ayobami Ife, Abeokuta
ABEOKUTA: The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the 2023 general elections, Hon. Oladipupo Adebutu, has described the November 16 local government election conducted in Ogun State as a “mockery of democracy.”
Adebutu alleged that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state intimidated and threatened his neighborhood during the election.
The APC had in the election swept all the 20 local governments and 236 wards in the state, leaving nothing for the opposition political parties.
The chairman of the State Independent Electoral Commission, OGSIEC, Babatunde Osibodu, also declared the ruling APC, and it’s candidates as winners of all the 20 local government areas and 236 wards on Sunday, November 17.
The winners were eventually sworn in on Monday, November 18, inside the June 12 Cultural Centre, Abeokuta by Governor Dapo Abiodun.
However, addressing newsmen in Abeokuta, on Monday, Adebutu lamented that despite paying all required fees to OGSIEC, the election was riddled with violence and intimidation against PDP leaders and supporters.
The former federal lawmaker also accused Governor Dapo Abiodun and his administration of harassment and assault, saying the present administration is “trampling on democracy.”
He said: ”The OGSIEC, supposedly supported by our taxes, was unleashed against us. Ironically, PDP were the only party that paid all the fees that they illegally requested us to pay. We paid because we did not want any reason to be disqualified. We actually paid. In essence, we paid the ransom. After taking that ransom from us, they deployed against us.
”This is democracy trampled upon. Of the 5,042 polling units of Ogun State, in over 4000 of those polling units, OGSIEC did not turn up. In less than the 1000 that they turned up, what they did was that wherever they noticed that it appeared that the voting was not going in favour of APC, they’d rather stop the voting.
” In some cases, they actually brought out canes and were caning people saying”if you’re not going to vote APC, go o home.” They sorted the ballots already cast and tore ballots cast in favour of other parties. What a shame! As if that was not enough, they went after all known leaders of the PDP, individually, local government by local government and attacked them.”
…We’ll Take Appropriate Action Concerning the Charade, Sham Called LG Election – Tella, Ogun PDP Chair
Also addressing newsmen, the party’s chairman, Abayomi Tella, described the election as a “sham and charade,” adding that party would “not fold its arms over it.”
Ogun Govt Reacts ….
But the State Government through the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Strategy, Kayode Akinmade, said that Ogun has not witnessed any political violence since Abiodun came to power right from 2019.
Akinmade said this attests to the Governor’s peaceful mien.
He alleged that Adebutu illegally mobilised 40 policemen from MOPOL 49 in Lagos along with PDP thugs who rode on Okada and went about bearing guns, cutlasses and other weapons, attempting to snatch ballot boxes.
He said: “This individual is trying to assume the role of the Chief Security Officer of Ogun State and that is impossible. It is in his own interest to cooperate with law enforcement officers by turning himself in, rather than trying to exonerate himself from the mayhem unleashed on the peace-loving residents of Iperu on Saturday.
“It is laughable that someone whose political journey is on a downward spiral is alleging that voting did not take place in some polling booths in the state when in actual fact the majority of Ogun residents trooped out in their numbers to exercise their electoral franchise.
“As a professional clown whose own running mate said he would have been a disaster as governor, Adebutu spun wicked lies like the current one during his case at the election petitions tribunal and right up to the Supreme Court, where he was brutally bludgeoned for his egregious falsehoods.”
