It has been revealed that Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola became victorious in the August 9 election because he came to the state with an open mind to develop the state and move it forward.

The Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Hon. Sunday Akere stated this yesterday in Osogbo during a programme organised to appreciate God and celebrate the victory of Ogbeni Aregbesola in the last gubernatorial elections.

The Commissioner also stated that the administration will not unjustly treat anybody for any reason at all while also hinging the victory in the polls to the grace of God.

While appreciating the people of the state for their support, Hon. Akere called on the people of the state to immediately get down to work to develop the state as the state belongs to everybody.

He appreciated the members of staff of the ministry for believing in the Ogbeni Aregbesola administration and for supporting the re-election of the Governor for a second term

The Commissioner who charged the ministry staff to show more commitment to their duties stressed that Ogbeni Aregbesola is planning to use the second term to build on the good foundation which has been laid for development in the first term.

Also speaking at the event were the Special Advisers to the Governor on Youths Sports and Special Needs, Com. Biyi Odunlade, Special Adviser on Lands, Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr Ayodele Owoade and the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Electronics, Engr. Remi Omowaye who all reiterated the commitment of the Governor to continue to develop the state.

They all thanked the people of the state and civil servants for making Aregbesola successful, stressing that the Governor is experiencing success as a result of the support of civil servants.

In a welcome remark, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information and Strategy, Eng. Segun Aduroja appealed for more cooperation from information managers while charging them not relent in their efforts.

Also present at the event were the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Media Monitoring, Mr Lani Baderinwa, Director General of Osun State Broadcasting Corporation, Dr Olusoji Fadehan, women leaders as well as all the Directors in the Ministry.

BIOREPORTS

I have always had an ambivalent attitude towards the politics of Osun State since the death of Chief Bola Ige in December 2001. It is routine for him to spend his Christmas break at his home town, Esa-Oke, and usually arrived there on the 23rd December. In the year of his death, he told me he would arrive a day earlier than this routine schedule and so in anticipation of the variation, I went to his country home on the evening of 22nd December to visit him. Esa-Oke and my town Okemesi are neighbours separated only by a 10-minute drive and our families are some sort of ancestral cousins.
It was habitual for his young friends and admirers to spend time with him, especially those of us who are also close friends of his children, Funsho and Muyiwa. I got there around 7pm and was told he had not arrived. And then the news broke in the early hours of the following morning that he had been assassinated. It turned out that as I was knocking on his doors at Esa-Oke, death was paying him an unwanted visit in Ibadan.
I first met Senator Iyiola Omisore in the company of the late Ige at Ado-Ekiti in 1998. The background to their political companionship was the pragmatic response to the pressure imposed by the brevity of the transition programme of Gen. Abdusalami Abubakar following the death of Gen. Sani Abacha. After many years of internal political exile (occasioned by the 1993 presidential election annulment crisis) Ige and the traditional Afenifere political leadership were confronted with the immediate challenge of responding effectively to the chosen option of participation in the 199899 political transition programme.
In their absence, Yoruba politicians of different political persuasion who chose to participate in the Abacha transition programme had filled the vacuum they left behind. It was practically impossible for them, within the short span of the transition programme, to re-establish fighting-fit structures of electoral mobilisation from the ward level upwards to the national level. In the circumstance they found themselves somewhat compelled them to seek recourse in the realistic strategy of co-opting the extant political structures on ground, which were largely controlled by politicians who had participated in the political programme of Abacha.
In Osun State, Omisore was the leading governorship aspirant and had built a formidable political war machine towards the realisation of this purpose. In a calculated marriage of convenience, Ige simply co-opted and matched Omisore as the running mate to Chief Bisi Akande, his protégé and follower on the Afenifere hierarchy. The general idea was that Afenifere would provide the credible political leadership to which the penitent Abacha politicians were expected to deify and defer. And for the most part, the arrangement worked as designed.
In putting this formula to practice, Ige had embarked on the herculean task of selling Omisore to the Afenifere establishment and it was in this capacity that both of them attended the Afenifere town meeting called at Ado Ekiti. The group’s leader in Ekiti State, Dr. Nathaniel Aina, openly expressed his dissatisfaction with Omisore’s presence and remarked he only tolerated him in deference to the authority figure of the deputy leader of Afenifere.
In the ensuing general election, Ige got the duo of Akande and Omisore elected as governor and deputy governor. To the extent of the potential for conflict implied in this complicated background, the crisis that pitted the two against each another was inevitable. Both of them are assertive and turbulent personalities and their disruptive incompatibility presaged the do-or-die antagonism that came to characterise the relationship between governors and their deputies.
The constitution is partly to blame by suggesting that the downfall of the governor equals the good fortune of the deputy. And so right from the onset of their tenure, there is the subconscious anticipation (by the deputy governor) of the only clear role assigned to that office by the constitution — to fill in the vacuum that may be created by the exit of his principal. All pretensions to the contrary, which politician would not secretly crave this mouth-watering opportunity?
In fretful awareness of this doomsday scenario, the governor invariably becomes susceptible to paranoia and begins to see the ghost of his deputy first thing in the morning and the last encounter at night. Remember the fierce resistance of the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s inner circle to the idea of acting President Goodluck Jonathan setting his eyes on a supposedly recuperating principal? The ancient Oyo Empire had a simple panacea to such succession psychosis. The crown prince was made to have a vested interest in the longevity of the reign of the king through the constitutional contrivance specifying that they die together. The death of the king is a compulsory invitation to the prince to equally take his earthly exit.
Prior to the change of Nigeria’s political leadership in 1998, Omisore had his sights firmly set on the governorship seat, not that of deputy governor; and from his first day in office in May 1999, the indications were that he regarded himself as governor-in-waiting (and would tell you that was the deal he had with Ige) rather than the appendage designation of deputy governor. He took the position that he occupied the office of the deputy governor as of right not a privilege and did not accommodate himself to the suppliant mentality that would make his principal comfortable.
On account of his political pedigree and rather confrontational temperament, Omisore did not fit into the tradition-bound hierarchical order of Afenifere. The simmering feud soon blew out into the open and Omisore found himself confronted less with Akande and more with the mentor and godfather.
The crisis escalated with the impeachment of Omisore and the battle line became boldly encrypted in the swampy soil of Osun State. The sacred palace of the Ooni at Ile-Ife played host to the deux-ex-machina (the catalyst) to the climax of the tragic drama. It was the arena of Ige’s last public appearance and where his unprecedented physical molestation signposted the grim fate that awaited him.
The inability of the Nigerian state to unravel the mystery of the late attorney-general’s sudden death has not helped Omisore’s case and persistently prompts the quip if not him then who? If he is innocent of this accusation, as his sympathisers had repeatedly argued, then he would be the victim of the gravest injustice.
Sincere friends and associates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate often marvel at his penchant for overstating his importance — arrogating to himself godfather influence over issues he has little or no leverage and knew little about. He has persistently got himself into trouble on account of this illusion of grandeur complex. At the Ife encounter, he was reported as directing some roughnecks to manhandle Ige and “get his cap for me”. Against this incriminating background, the preponderance of opinion was that the state should look no further than him in the search for Bola Ige’s killers.
Incidentally the last discussion I had with anyone on the murder case was with a former governor of the state, who categorically dismissed any attribution of the murder to Omisore as false and unfounded. He believed that the incident was the case of an armed robbery gone horribly wrong. In an ironical twist, the same personality wove a narrative of the murder in a most devastating propaganda attack on Omisore at Governor Rauf Aregbesola’s mega rally a few days before the August 9th governorship election.
He recalled that all the key PDP-related political appointments from Osun State including the Minister of Police Affairs, the national secretary of the PDP, the state chairman of PDP, and an anointed senatorial aspirant in the state, were co-detainees with Omisore as suspects in the murder of Ige. It was a propaganda coup — a rousing reminder and incitement to the troubled conscience of the Osun electorate to default on the side of the American legal cannon, which stipulates that an accused has to prove his innocence rather than being deemed innocent until proven guilty by the law as in the tradition of British jurisprudence.
At the nomination of Jelili Adesiyan as ministerial candidate from Osun State, I had argued that it was a strategic political blunder on the part of Omisore. Anybody running for the governorship of the state, who is remotely implicated in the controversy over the Ige murder case, can do without the liability of reopening this deep-seated political wound by refraining from any action with a potential to reawaken public consciousness all over again on such a heart-wrenching tragedy. Typically the PDP governorship flag bearer could not just resist the opportunity to flaunt the range and depth of his powerful connections and so he went ahead to nominate an individual whose sponsorship no one could be in any doubt.
To make a bad case worse, Omisore’s propaganda, publicity and goodwill outreach was practically non-existent. He had no promotional message on either AIT or Channels all through his campaigns. The double jeopardy here is that his opponents in the election are past masters in the science and art of propaganda in Nigeria.
In the present political configuration of this country, I’m a committed member and partisan of the PDP. Does this commitment stop short of regretting Omisore’s defeat? Since I’m in no position to categorically rule him in or out of culpability in the death of Ige, the answer has to be yes. And in specific terms of the politics of the South-west, I’m concerned more with the regional preference in the forthcoming presidential election than the outcome of state governorship elections.
THIS DAY

The Osun State governorship election has come and gone successfully. That the conduct of the election is reported to be free, fair and devoid of rancor is a victory for democracy and the rule of law. We commend the Osun electorate for carrying out their civic responsibility despite the over-militarization of the electioneering process by the Federal Government.

But there are some serious issues arising from the conduct of the election that can not be glossed over.  First is the allegation by Marilyn Ogah, Deputy Director of the Department of State Security (DSS) in charge of publicity, that a politician in one of the political parties offered operatives of the department N14 million to compromise security during the election. Added to that is her revelation that the hooded security operatives were of the DSS.

This Newspaper, in as much as it commends the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the relevant security agencies for a job well done, would want to know if the DSS has made any arrest in respect of the bribe offer. If not, is it then a mere case of crying wolf where none exists, just to justify the inexcusable presence of frightening hooded operatives of the department? That allegation is certainly too grave not to warrant an arrest. Nigerians deserve to know. Besides, there is also the need to ponder the continued militarization of the electioneering process. More so, because there was no air of freedom in Osun State while the election lasted. Will it continue to be a factor in our polity, even in the forth-coming general elections?

Indeed, it needs to be stated that Nigerians are fast growing a culture of an enlightened polity; where the citizenry will not be intimidated by any brute force, and the people demand that their votes must count. That exactly was the lesson from Osun State. Furthermore, we believe that electioneering is a process. Therefore, the idea of arresting and or restricting the movement of political leaders before and during election can only be seen as an attempt at intimidating the opposition party. There should be an end to that, forthwith; as it does not augur well for a vibrant democracy.

We also urge INEC to hold onto the Revised Option A4 – the on-the-spot counting and announcement of result at the pulling booths – which was used in Osun State. Obviously, it brings a lot of credibility to the election process. At least, no one has faulted the process or the result. We therefore need to improve on it and make it a standard for all future elections.

DAILY INDEPENDENT

The Osun State gubernatorial poll has been won and lost, but many events shaped the election on voting day. OLAJIDE OMOJOLOMOJU, AYO ESAN, KEMI OLAITAN and BOLADALE BAMIGBOLAhighlight some of those events.

It is no longer news that the people of Osun State last Saturday went to the poll to elect who will be their governor for the next four years. And with a determination to put their fate in their own hands, they exhibited strong sense of patriotism as they trooped out in large numbers to exercise their civic responsibility.

Besides, the Osun governorship election would go down in history as the most eagerly awaited election in the annals of the history of the state. Men, women; young and old, waited patiently on the queue, defying the drizzling rain with various colours of umbrellas to ensure that they make the necessary change with the only power in their possession, their votes.

Events leading to the Osun State governorship election presented an ominous sign of palpable danger. This perhaps explains the deployment of massive security personnel, including men of the Nigerian Army, the Department of State Services, DSS, the Nigerian Security Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, for election duty to forestall breakdown of law and order.

Curfew was declared in Osun from 6pm of Friday to 6pm of Election Day and this created huge problem, for travellers traversing Osun State on their way to their destinations.

For those coming from Lagos and/or Ibadan, they were stopped from proceeding on their journey at Ikire, the border town between Osun and Oyo states, forcing many of them to return to Ibadan for succour, while many were stranded at the border town till after 6pm on Election Day before they could continue their journey.

Those coming from Ondo State end had their journey terminated at Owena, another border town between Ondo and Osun states and a huge number of them spent the 24 hours that the curfew lasted in the border town.

Travellers from Ekiti also had their journey terminated at Ilesa, where many vehicles converged till after the curfew was lifted at 6pm on poll day. A woman and her two grown daughters also were stranded at Ile-Ife junction by the Ibadan-Ilesa expressway.

Suffice to say that all the stranded travellers were forced to observe a full day fast, as there was no food vendors to cater for their culinary needs. On election eve, a man was arrested with huge amount of money running to millions of naira, efforts by national mirror to find out who he was and how much was found on him were rebuffed by the soldiers who ‘arrested’ him.

The people of the ancient city of Osogbo woke up to a cloudy atmosphere on Saturday August 9, the day set aside for the state governorship election in the state.

The cloudy atmosphere gave way to early shower and despite this weather condition, the people were determined to carry out their civic of picking who is to govern them for the next four years.

The major candidates whose bill boards dominated Osogobo, the state capital were the incumbent governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, who was also the All Progressive Congress, APC candidate, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP candidate, Senator Iyiola Omisore and the candidate of the Labour Party, LP, Alhaji Fatai Akinbade.

Massive voters’ turn-out

By 7.00 am on the Election Day, people have already trooped out to the various polling booths waiting for INEC officials. In some of the polling booths visited in Oja-Oba, Alekuwodo, Owode, Igbona, Oke Fia, among others , the electorates gathered under canopies because of the early morning shower.

Chairs were arranged under the canopies and we gathered that those chairs and canopies were provided by the community leaders for the elderly who may not be able to withstand the rigour of staying for long. It was also seen that many aged people were guided to the voting centres.

The young men were also there to provide assistance for the aged and they were encouraged to carry out their civic duty. The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC officials arrived promptly in various polling booths with the election materials and accreditation started on schedule in most polling booths visited.

The officials because of large turn-out in the city knew that they were going to be overstretched. One of the Youth Corps member who served as official at the Testing Ground area said they were prepared for the task. Policemen and men of the NSCDC were stationed at each polling booth to provide security, though they carried no arms. There were also patrol of major streets by the mobile policemen and men of the NSCDC. They moved round to forestall any breakdown of law and order. There was also aerial surveillance by the police through helicopters.

Soldiers also mounted road blocks at the major entrance to the city. Rather than being intimidated by the high presence of security personnel, the residents of Osogbo were more determined to carry out their civic duty as some of them who spoke to National Mirror, declared that presence of security operatives would not hinder them from performing their right of electing their leaders.

All the security agencies also behaved well and were civil, even in the face of provocation by the youths who believed that they (the security agents) were sent by the Federal Government to prevent them from voting. Vehicles were not allowed to move except those that have the tag of INEC and were accredited for performing one role or the other and even then such persons and vehicles were subjected to thorough search by the security personnel. By 12.00 noon, accreditation ended and the voting started.

The voting dragged into late in the evening in most areas such as Testing Ground, Olaiya, Oke-Fia, Akindeko, Ogo Oluwa, Ring Road, Kola Balogun because of heavy turn- out of voters. By around 6.00pm counting of the votes had ended and APC supporters trooped out to celebrate, brandishing their brooms, the symbol of their party.

Till late in the night it was jubilation galore. But there was no violence in the ancient city of Osogbo rather it was celebration in a carnival –like mood throughout the night. Parties were also held in different section of the town till the morning of Sunday as television were placed outside to monitor the declaration of election results local government by local government by the INEC.

In Osogbo, one young man, after voting, jumped up and shouted: “Mo gba owo won, mo gba iresi won, mo gba kerosene won, mi o dibo fun won o,” meaning “I collected their money, rice and kerosene, but I didn’t vote for them.”

Returning home to vote

Some voters who registered at a far distance from their homes left as early as 6am and trekked to the polling units for accreditation. At some polling units in ward 4, Ogo- Oluwa Area of Osogbo local government, voters were already on the queue to be accredited by INEC officials who were on the ground as early as eight O’clock.

In Ile Ife, the hometown of the candidate of the PDP, Senator Omisore, and the senator representing Osun East Senatorial District, Senator Babajide Omoworare, the atmosphere was calm while voters in their numbers turned up early in their various polling booths to vote.

At Maku unit 13, Iremo 3, Maku compound in Ife Central Local Government, Senator Omoworare and several of his supporters in the area voted. Also, despite having polling booth few metres to his country home, the PDP candidate, Senator Iyiola Omisore, had to return to the nearest booth to his compound at Saint Gabriel More, to cast his vote. Similarly, the state governor, Mr. Aregbesola, who left Osogbo, the state capital, on Friday for Ilesa, his home town to exercise his civic duty, voted at Unit 1, Ward 8, Ifofin, Ilesa, the nearest polling booth to Ogbon Arogbo, his ancestral home.

At Loogan Agbaakin, in Ede, the former Speaker of Osun state House of Assembly and running mate to the PDP governorship candidate, Chief Adejare Bello, voted and nearly all the political bigwigs, who might not have been seen near their home towns, let alone compounds returned home to exercise their civic duty. This development constituted major talking point during and after the election. Several commentators on this gave diverse opinions about the significance of the return of the men to their ancestral homes for the poll.

A 60-year old man at Maku Compound, Pa Joseph Falola, just after completing his accreditation said, though Senator Omoworare, usually visit the compound, he added that the period of the poll, provided people of the area with opportunity to spend more time with him. He said the senator spent the whole week of the poll in the compound.

Movements across the wards

Across the state, there were movements by agents of political parties, moving from one ward to another to ensure things went the way they planned. Items and monies were moved by parties in a desperate bid to “buy” voters and this nearly caused fracas in some polling units, where sharing of money was resisted by people.

At a polling unit near Enuwa Square in Ife, a middle age lady, who dressed like a lunatic, but was secretly convincing elderly voters on the queue to vote for a particular political party was arrested. Her arrest was effected when a 70-year old woman alerted security operatives, who immediately arrested her and wisked her away.

In Osogbo, especially in the interior part of the town, sharing of materials for votes were also witnessed, while the situation was not same at the new settlements in the state capital. In Ede and Ikire towns, the situation was the same.

Clash between the multi agencies election security monitors

The clash between policemen and soldiers in Ogbaagbaa, the hometown of LP candidate, Alhaji Akinbade, raised the issue of dangers the usage of several security agencies for election duties would engender. When the issue of likelihood of clash among the security agencies was raised with the Commissioner of Police for Osun governorship poll, Austin Ebakavbokun, he assured that each agency knew its brief and would stick to it.

However, at the entrance of Ogbaagba, a town in Olaoluwa Local Government area of Osun state, a bloody clash was only narrowly averted, when some soldiers that mounted road block, stopped a patrol van conveying about six policemen and demanded that the men should surrender themselves for search.

At the peak of the altercations between the two groups, several gunshots were fired into the air, causing pandemonium in the neighbourhood not far away from a polling booth. The incidents led to the disruption of voting in the polling booth, as many of the voters abandoned the queue and fled the area, until normalcy returned. Concerns over border towns

There were also concerns while the voting was on about the border towns in the state, that there may be trans-border crime by hoodlums, who may use routes that were not known to the soldiers manning border towns across the state. In Ikire, Ifetedo, Ora, Ila-Odo among others and all border towns in the state, heavy security presence were seen. The fear according to a top security source, was consequent upon intelligence that voting may be disrupted by trans-state hoodlums in border towns.

Rumours and conflicting election results

As early as 3pm on the day of the poll, social media platforms were awashed with different results coming from the 332 wards in the state, thus putting many newsmen covering the exercise under serious pressure to file results of the poll as quickly as possible. From indications, nearly all political parties that participated in the poll had made provisions for those that would post results of polls as soon as they were announced onto the social media platforms.

Though, this to a certain extent, assisted stakeholders to follow the trend the election was taking, but in many instances, wrong results were deliberately posted to cause confusion. In many units where important dignitaries voted and were focal points, several incorrect election results were circulated on social media platforms, leading to confusion.

Making ‘brisk business’ on Election Day at Ile Ife

It was however not only the electorate that had their hands full on the election day, given the hype that the election had generated, security personnel that include soldiers, men of the State Security Service, SSS, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC and police were also not exempted as they were all over the state to prevent break down of law and order.

With restriction of movement and closure of business till 6.00 pm on the day, getting things, including food to buy turned out to be a herculean task. But trust Nigerians, whether in uniform or not, they will always find a way out. This was the case with some soldiers deployed to Mayfair area of Ile Ife, as they decided to help themselves in getting food to eat when the voting exercise was on.

Taking full charge of the junction that led to the ancient city, the soldiers numbering about five with their gun hanging on their shoulder mounted a the road block, stopping those passing with courtesy.

Directly in front of their road block was a young lady, who simply gave her name as Bola, selling fried eggs, bread, indomie and tea. Bola, for close to 25 minutes that this reporter was in the area was on her feet attending to customers with the soldiers directly providing security. While two of the soldiers were attending to motorists on election duty at the road block, the others were filling their stomach with the delicious food provided by the lady. One by one the soldiers queue before the lady and she in turn made food available to them.

From nowhere also was a team of observers who came to join the soldiers and took turn to have their fill of the food courtesy of the lady who certainly will smile to the bank after the election.

With this act by the lady even though not for free, it would not be an understatement that it helped the soldiers in “rightly” performing their duty during the election exercise. And for the lady, she could not but wish that elections should continue to hold, because it not only provided her the opportunity to have security for free while on “duty” but also big business with lots of cash, at the expense of her rivals in the business.

NATIONAL MIRROR

Photos of the Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola  during a Congratulatory Visit by Osun Divisional Conference

of Obas in Osun Central Senatorial District to Aregbesola, in Osogbo on Thursday 14-08-2014

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (centre); Akirun of
Ikirun, Oba Rauf Adedeji (3rd left); Olokuku of Okuku, Oba Samuel Oluronke (3rd
right); Aragbiji of Iragbiji, Oba Rasheed Olabomi (left); Owa of Otan
Ayegbaju, Oba Lukman Fadipe (2nd right); Olobu of Ilobu, Oba Ashiru
Olaniyan (2nd left) and Elerin of Erin-Osun, Oba Yusuf Oyagbodun
(right), during a Congratulatory Visit by Osun Divisional Conference
of Obas in Osun Central Senatorial District to Aregbesola, in Osogbo
on Thursday 14-08-2014

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (6th left); Akirun of
Ikirun, Oba Rauf Adedeji (5th left); Olokuku of Okuku, Oba Samuel
Oluronke
(6th right); Aragbiji of Iragbiji, Oba Rasheed Olabomi (3rd left); Owa
of Otan Ayegbaju, Oba Lukman Fadipe (5th right); Olobu of Ilobu, Oba
Ashiru Olaniyan (4th left); Elerin of Erin-Osun, Oba Yusuf Oyagbodun
(4thright) and others, during a Congratulatory Visit by Osun Divisional Conference of Obas in Osun Central Senatorial District to
Aregbesola, in Osogbo on Thursday 14-08-2014

The authorities of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, have congratulated Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola on his re-election as the Executive Governor of Osun State for the next four years.

A release by the Public Relations Officer , Mr. Abiodun Olarewaju, stated that the University eulogised the sterling qualities of Ogbeni Aregbesola and urged him to continue to give more dividends of democracy to the entire people of Osun State.

According to the University’s spokesman, a congratulatory letter written by the the Registrar, Mr. Dotun Awoyemi, on behalf of the Council, Vice- Chancellor, Professor Bamitale Omole, Senate, Staff and Students of the University, attributed the victory of the Governor to the acceptability of the humane policies of his administration which have positively impacted on the entire citizenry of Osun State.

He called on Ogbeni Aregbesola to see his re-election as a national call to duty, using his God-given talents to further elevate people’s standard of living and serve humanity in general. He added that Obafemi Awolowo University is pleased to be associated with the Governor and is proud of the successes his administration has recorded since his assumption of office.

The Registrar, then, enjoined Governor Aregbesola to sustain, on a greater scale, the long history of collaboration between his administration and Obafemi Awolowo University. He, therefore, pray that the Almighty God will continue to endow the Governor with more wisdom and sound health to enable him to be relevant to Osun State , Nigeria, Africa and the world at large.

A senatorial aspirant for Lagos West, Kamal Bayewu, has described the victory Governor Rauf Aregbesola in the just concluded election as “a victory for the good people of Osun State”.

He also described the victory as a further confirmation of Aregbesola’s emergence as Independent Newspapers Limited (INL) Man-of-the-Year for 2013.

Bayewu, in an interview, added that Aregbesola’s triumph over reactionary forces in Osun State is “a testimony to the fact that the Daily Independent award and several others given to him were no fluke but a testimony to the Governor’s giant strides as a great leader and uncommon revolutionist”.

“Aregbesola is a man of honesty, commitment, integrity, inner strength and great strategic vision.

“His resounding victory in the election is not just on account of his wide acceptance by the good people Osun, but a confirmation that he merits the Man-of-the-Year award he received early this year and several others given to him by people from all spheres of life”.

While saluting Aregbesola for his bravery, doggedness and leadership style, he said the victory recorded by the governor is a victory for the people of Osun State, the All Progressives Congress (APC) family and all lovers of democracy and good governance.

He further congratulated the people of the State of Osun for “signing in for another four years of continued progress, positive transformation and massive developmental projects”.

DAILY INDEPENDENT

In this write-up, Femi Makinde takes a cursory look at the intrigues that characterised the Osun governorship election

From the results which first trickled in after voting last Saturday, it was obvious that the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, was leading 19 other contestants in the Osun State governorship election and the majority of voters, especially, in Osogbo and Ilesa were happy about it.

However, many were cautious since the results were not complete and the Independent National Electoral Commission is the only agency vested with the power to declare the winner. Based on this, several hundreds of APC supporters trooped to the INEC office along Osogbo-Gbongan Road but the heavily armed security personnel who barricaded the road prevented them from getting close to the office which was undoubtedly the most secure place in Osun State on that day.

Not perturbed by the restriction of movement, they moved to the opposite space at the entrance of the State House of Assembly where they kept vigil in the cold waiting for the much expected announcement from INEC. Anxiety was heightened among residents and supporters of the APC when rumour began to make the rounds that INEC had been given an order from Abuja that a wrong candidate should be declared as the winner.

Respite, however, came when the Vice Chancellor, Obafemi Awolowo University, Prof. Bamitale Omole, who is the Returning Officer for the poll led the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr. Olusegun Agbaje, the Supervising National Electoral Commissioner for Osun Governorship Election, Ambassador Mohammad Wali; Ekiti State REC, Alhaji Halilu Pai, and others to the media centre where journalists who had become fatigued due to the rigours of travelling round the state to cover the poll were waiting.

The announcement of the result started by some minutes past 2am with Ifedayo local government area and it lasted till around 5am when the result from Ejigbo local government area was announced. It was no longer difficult to know that Aregebsola had won but the returning officer announced that there would be a break to enable INEC sum up all the results.

There was anxiety as rumour mongers went to work again stating that there was a break in order to give the Returning Officer and INEC officials room to manipulate the result and possibly to call back some electoral officers to come and represent their results.

After about two hours, journalists at the media centre burst into a protest song: “All we are saying, declare winner!” Omole’s plea fell on deaf ears as the protesting journalists continued with their agitation. The vice chancellor later explained that transferring the results was cumbersome. At last, the final moment came and Omole read the preamble and said, “ Having satisfied the requirement of the law and having scored the highest number of votes cast, I hereby declare Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola the winner of the governorship election held in Osun State on August 9, 2014 and he is returned as the governor of the state.”

There was wild jubilation in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, and other major towns across the state when Aregbesola was declared the winner of the election. The most surprising aspect of the jubilation at the media centre was that party agents from other political parties which contested the election were the first to jump up and started singing victory songs.

All party agents from the opposition parties were extremely happy and celebrated Aregbesola’s victory even more than the leaders of the APC present. However, the Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Bola Ajao, who was the PDP agent at the collation centre, was the only agent who wore a gloomy face and he refused to sign the form EC8D which is the result sheet at the state level.

Supporters of the APC who had kept vigil at the INEC office, burst into spontaneous jubilation even before the returning officer could complete his declaration. The celebration started from the INEC office by the APC supporters and other party faithful joined the train while thousands trooped in from other towns and villages to join the jubilant supporters in Osogbo.

At daybreak, broom-bearing kids who joined the adult as well as some aged but agile residents danced round the streets to celebrate the victory. Attendance in some churches was low due to the election and the celebration of the unusual governor. As more people poured into the streets, the joyous crowds headed to the Government House where they celebrated with the governor. Aregbesola, who sensed that the Government House, Oke-Fia, could not contain the surging crowd, directed his followers to the Nelson Mandela Park where thousands of residents gathered within minutes to celebrate.

The governor in company with his deputy, Mrs. Titi Laoye-Tomori, the Chairman of the APC in the state, Mr. Adelowo Adebiyi, and a leader of the APC in Osogbo, Alhaji Fatai Oyedele, popularly known as Diekola, led the residents to dance and sing praises to God.

The governor saluted what he called the unwavering determination of the people of the state to defend their sovereign rights and the integrity of the nation’s democracy. According to him, the determination of the people to come out and cast their votes despite the heavy presence of armed security personnel deployed in the state during the election was a demonstration that in a democracy, power truly belongs to the people. With an assurance that he would neither take their confidence in his administration for granted nor betray their trust, the governor promised to keep his electioneering promises.

Aregbesola said, “After an unnecessarily tense, tortuous and even traumatic process, the Independent National Electoral Commission this morning (Sunday) declared me as the winner of the Osun governorship election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress.

“On behalf of my party, we are delighted to claim victory for our hard work, focus and dedication in this election. I thank the Almighty God for our triumph at the polls against all odds. To the good people of Osun State goes our unflinching gratitude. We salute your steadfastness, courage, loyalty, commitment and fierce determination to defend your sovereign rights and the integrity of our nascent democracy. You have demonstrated in this election that in a democracy, power truly belongs to the people. I am humbled and honoured by your trust and abiding faith in me and my party. I pledge that your confidence in us shall never be betrayed or taken for granted. Ordinarily, this should be a moment of joy and celebration consequent upon the hard-earned triumph of the people’s will. However, this election shows that democracy is still gravely endangered in Nigeria. We witnessed a gross abuse of power and, of due process before, during, and even after the actual voting process. It is so sad and unfortunate that what should be a normal, routine process was maliciously allowed to snowball into a needless virtual war by the Federal Government and the PDP.

“Osun State was unduly militarised in an unprecedented manner through criminal intimidation and psychological assault on our people. This election witnessed an abuse of our security agencies and amounted to a corruption of their professional ethics and integrity.

“The security agencies were unprofessionally utilised in Osun to harass, intimidate and oppress the people whose taxes are used to pay their salaries and provide their arms. Hundreds of leaders, supporters, sympathisers and agents of our party were arrested and detained. Also, hundreds of other innocent citizens including women and the aged were harassed, brutalised and traumatised. In spite of this condemnable repression and abuse of human rights, the unflagging spirit of our people triumphed.

“Our victory is due to the steadfastness and resolute determination of our people to assert and defend their rights. The PDP obviously did all it could in a most desperate manner to steal the people’s mandate. A critical analysis of the elections shows a trend of general low voter turnout largely because of the atmosphere of deliberate tyranny and fear caused by the excessive militarisation of the state.

“Despite our victory, it is pertinent to condemn and also point out the fact that the number of accredited voters in most local government areas was less than half of registered voters. Against this trend, it is curious that the bulk of the PDP candidate’s votes came from only four local governments namely: Ife-Central, Ife-East, Ife-North and Ife-South. This suggests an inexplicable large turnout in his stronghold which is a curious departure from the general trend of voting across the state.”

Some of the people celebrating the APC’s victory in front of the PDP secretariat on Sunday were seen defacing posters, billboard and flags of the PDP. However, some elderly persons cautioned them against provoking their opponents.

A strange manner of celebration was seen in front of the Government House, Osogbo, where a supporter of the APC carried a mock coffin. The wild celebration by some APC supporters was said to have led to a fight between them and supporters of Omisore in Ile-Ife, on Monday.

The celebration of the victory which started on Saturday has continued even up till Wednesday. A group known as De Raufs which has its office at Jaleyemi area of Osogbo blocked the road on Tuesday as the celebration progressed into the fourth day. The presentation of Certificate of Return by INEC to Aregbesola which was done on Tuesday provided another avenue for the party to celebrate. Supporters thronged the INEC office where the ceremony took place to catch a glimpse of the man of the moment although many of them were prevented from going inside to witness the ceremony.

However, while Omisore has blamed the former REC of Osun State, Ambassador Rufus Akeju, for his defeat, Aregbesola is also in a subtly manner accusing the same INEC of colluding with Omisore. The governor said the pattern of voting in Ife land, the stronghold of the PDP, did not represent what happened in other areas of the state on the day of election.

Like other public agencies, INEC might not be perfect but its performance under the REC in charge of the election, Agbaje, is commendable.

Now that the celebration is ending and it is clear that Aregbesola will spend four more years in office, the prayer on the lips of the majority of Osun people is that he should live up to his promise of delivering more dividends of democracy in his second term.

Copyright PUNCH.

The documentary discussed Osun’s Innovations along the following 5 areas : Education Empowerment Infrastructural Development Agriculture & Food Security Governance.

The Project Coordinator, Dr. Charles Akinola said the documentary chronicles the new thinking on development as exemplified by the state of Osun under the leadership of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola focusing on five key areas of Education; Infrastructure, Empowerment, Agriculture/Food Security and Governance.

Viewers will be thrilled with innovative Programmes under the above areas that are already being understudied by local and international development institutions for the development world.

Akinola noted that the documentary which was directed by ace movie producer/director, Kunle Afolayan features interviews and commentaries from notable Nigerian thought leaders including Professor Pat Utomi, Professor Wole Soyinka, Rtd. General Alani Akinrinade, Professor Wale Omole amongst others.

‘’The Osun example notably is a worthy alternative to developing Nigeria and should be sustained and above all scaled across the nation. This was part of the drive for the OEDP to have conceived of this initiative and particularly to have an independent, non-political appraisal of the goings in Osun which undoubtedly has been adjudged by all as exemplary’’, Akinola stated.

The insightful documentary is billed for premiere with a private viewing for a select group of key societal and industry stakeholders on Sunday August 3, 2014 at the Oriental Hotel, Lekki, Lagos.

Watch by clicking HERE 

The Former National Chairman, All progressives Congress (APC), Chief Bisi Akande welcomed the Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola with a warm embrace , during the Governor’s Visit to Akande in his residence, Ila-Orangun. Photos below…

Former National Chairman, All progressives Congress (APC), Chief Bisi
Akande (left) in a warm embrace with Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni
Rauf Aregbesola, during the Governor’s Visit to Akande in his
residence, Ila-Orangun

From right, Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; Former
National Chairman, All progressives Congress (APC), Chief Bisi Akande
and Member, National Assembly representing Osun Central Senatorial
District, Senator Sola Adeyeye, during the Governor’s Visit to Akande
in his residence, Ila-Orangun

Former National Chairman, All progressives Congress (APC), Chief Bisi
Akande (left) and Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola,
during the Governor’s Visit to Akande in his residence, Ila-Orangun