Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress has said the Chairman
of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, replaced
the Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, Ambassador Rufus Akeju
because of the pressure from the Presidency to allow the Peoples Democratic
Party to rig the forthcoming governorship election in the state.
The Director of Publicity, Research and Strategy of the APC in Osun
State, Mr. Kunle Oyatomi, said this on Saturday while responding to an enquiry in
Osogbo.
The new REC, Mr. Olusegun Agbaje, resumed in Osun State on July 1 after
Akeju proceeded on leave.
The governorship candidate of the PDP, Senator Iyiola Omisore, was at
the forefront of the campaign for the redeployment of Akeju.
Omisore based his position on the court order which he said restrained
Akeju from conducting elections in Osun State since 2011.
The PDP had claimed that Akeju was a former special assistant to APC
national leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu hence he would not be fair to other
parties in the race.
But APC spokesperson insisted that Akeju was replaced with the aim of
allowing the PDP unhindered access to rig the August 9 governorship election
holding in the state.
Oyatomi said the PDP was not comfortable with Akeju because of his
refusal to be manipulated and that the party used the Presidency to ensure that
Akeju was replaced.
The party said the replacement had shown that Jega was not reliable
because he allowed himself to be forced to do the bidding of the PDP.
He said, “INEC as a body had been compelled to remove Akeju because the
PDP with the patent support of the Presidency is desperate to rig the election.
“Jega now has a responsibility to tell Nigerians what convinced him now
few weeks before the election that Akeju was compromised.
“The spokesman, Kayode Idowu, who gave excuse for the removal of Akeju,
told the whole story.
“What we can make out of that is that he has not been removed as a REC,
Akeju has only been asked to step aside to make what is impossible with him,
possible with his replacement.
“The whole idea of credibility is bunkum. Rather, it tells a lot about
INEC’s unreliability because Jega could not stand his grounds under pressure
from the Presidency.
“If Jega wants us to take him seriously, he should now use the card
reader for the election as we had demanded because it is available and usable.
Their refusal to use it is suspect.”
Omisore, who spoke through his media aide, Mr. Diran Odeyemi, said that
the PDP had nothing personal against Akeju but was only trying to make sure that
the INEC complied with the court injunction.
He said the APC had been defending Akeju because he was their ally and
they needed him to manipulate the election for them because they knew that the
people were against them already.
Odeyemi said, “Senator Iyiola Omisore and the PDP had nothing personal
against Akeju. What we were saying then was the since the court has restrained
Akeju from conducting election in Osun State, he should be redeployed.
“We are urging the new REC to do what is right by conducting a free,
fair and credible election. The whole world is watching and we know that we
have the support of the people of the state.
“All what we are asking is that the election should be credible. Is it
not curious that the APC had become the mouthpiece of Akeju? That would show
you that they are up to something.”
However, the new REC had promised to treat all political parties fairly.
Agbaje said this during his maiden press briefing in Osogbo while
seeking the cooperation of the political parties and stakeholders for the
success of the poll.
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