As the August 15 governorship election in Osun State approaches, the alleged arrests of leaders of the ruling Accord Party by the state police command suggest that the police are replaying the Edo State governorship election script where leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party in the state were hounded into detention few weeks to the September 21, 2024 poll, which obviously weakened the capacity of the party in the poll, Ejiofor Alike reports
Recent developments ahead of the August 15 governorship election in Osun State suggest the absence of a level-playing field as the processes leading to the election are allegedly being manipulated against the ruling Accord Party in the state by the police and other agencies of the federal government.
In what analysts described as a replay of the script of the September 21, 2024 governorship election in Edo State, the Osun State Police Command has allegedly embarked on the arrests of the leaders of the ruling Accord Party (AP).
Less than two weeks to the Edo State governorship election, the police had embarked on mass arrests of PDP leaders, who were transferred to Abuja.
Similarly, the Imole Campaign Council working for Governor Ademola Adeleke’s reelection had accused the police of arresting no fewer than 86 supporters of the governor.
Speaking to journalists after leading a delegation to the IRT Office in Abuja, where a large number of the detainees were being kept, the spokesperson for the Imole Campaign Council and legal practitioner, Pelumi Olajengbesi, claimed that some of the detainees had been moved to correctional facilities in Keffi and Kuje despite not being arraigned before any court.
“We have met with the leadership of the police, but they cannot provide any reason for these arrests. There is no petition against these people. They have committed no offence. There is no charge against them; no allegation whatsoever,” he said.
The lawyer accused the Osun State Commissioner of Police, CP Ibrahim Gotan of orchestrating indiscriminate arrests of perceived supporters of Governor Adeleke.
The Osun State Government had also raised the alarm over what it described as the systematic invasion, attacks and bursting of homes of top officials of the state government by the state police command without proper search warrant.
The Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, said the residences of the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Teslim Igbalaye, and about six commissioners and other top functionaries of the government were raided by a combined team of police officers in a gestapo manner.
Despite the mounting evidence suggesting the partiality of the police, the Commissioner for Police, Gotan, had maintained that the police were fully prepared to discharge its constitutional responsibility with professionalism, impartiality, and respect for the rule of law.
Reacting to the alleged intimidation and arrest of opposition members in the state, the police image maker, Biodun Ojelabi, said, “Based on intelligence, the house of SSG was raided by police operatives and six persons were arrested with exhibits.”
However, the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Adewale Egbedun, gave an account of the arrest of the SSG that contradicted the version given by the state police command’s spokesperson.
Egbedun accused the CP, Gotan, of ordering the arrest of Igbalaye in retaliation for being booed at a public event.
The Speaker said he witnessed the trigger for the arrest at an INEC stakeholders’ meeting he attended alongside the Deputy Governor and Igbalaye.“We all witnessed the unfortunate moment when Commissioner Gotan was booed while on the podium by citizens of Osun State. Immediately he returned to his seat, he looked directly towards us. At that moment, the SSG laughed,” he said.
Egbedun said he grew uneasy after watching Gotan reach for his phone.
“The next thing I observed was Commissioner Gotan picking up his telephone and making a series of calls. From what I saw, I turned to the SSG and said, ‘the Commissioner of Police has just ordered your arrest,” he said.
His prediction, he said, played out within minutes.
“A few minutes later, the SSG received a telephone call informing him that police officers were waiting for him at his residence. He immediately stood up and left the event, leaving the Deputy Governor and myself behind,” he said.
Igbalaye later told him he had been invited to the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID) because the police allegedly recovered N4 million and two voter cards belonging to members of his political party who were holding a meeting within his compound.
“I honestly do not understand how such an allegation justified inviting, or attempting to arrest, a public official of his standing.”
When the IG, Tunji Disu, later deployed Erale Samuel Etaifo to the state as Commissioner of Police to oversee the security architecture for the forthcoming governorship election, there was jubilation in Adeleke’s camp as Accord Party’s supporters thought that CP Gotan had been removed from the state.
But the police later clarified that Gotan remains the substantive CP in the state but would not be involved in election duties.
Following the alleged bias on the part of the police, Governor Adeleke, last week expressed lack of trust in the police force ahead of the upcoming election.
“After signing the peace accord, the Peace Committee promised me they would engage with them (police). However, as I speak, I don’t trust the police right now. The Peace Committee has promised to work on it, and I pray that, by the special grace of God, He would touch their hearts to do the right thing.”
As if the actions of the Osun State Police Command were not enough, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) last Wednesday freezed all Osun State government accounts domiciled with the First Banks.
An obviously embarrassed President Bola Tinubu had to intervene and halt EFCC’s action.
It will be recalled that the allocations of LG councils had been withheld under controversial circumstances to frustrate the payment of salaries of LG workers and incite them against the Adeleke’s administration.
As the Osun State governorship election approaches, the National Peace Committee headed by a former Military Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd.) should intervene and stop the increasing use of state apparatus to weaken the ruling Accord Party in the state.
The results of the Osun governorship election must be declared at the polling units, LG collation centres and the state collation centre.
The people of the state should resist any attempt to move all the results from the polling units direct to the state headquarters of INEC. Election riggers who might ask the voters to go home and return the next morning should be resisted because they will doctor the results overnight.
An election can only be considered as being credible, free, fair and transparent when all the processes leading to it, the actual voting process, the collation of results and the declaration of the winner are seen to be fair and transparent.
The IG, Disu, has to ensure that the police in Osun act in a professional manner. They should not in any way give the impression that they have been mandated to capture the state for the APC. This will taint the credibility of the election.
