As the final countdown to Saturday’s gubernatorial election in Osun State begins, global attention would once again be focused on Nigeria as the wobbling and fumbling continues in the nation’s quest to join the leagues of real democracies.
And as had always been the case with elections in western Nigeria since independence, it is going to be a straight fight between federal might and the people’s will. Why the federal government or rather the party at the centre is always interested in controlling south west Nigeria against the wish of the majority beats one’s imagination. I don’t want to hazard a guess, but suffice to say that each attempt whether successful or not have always had grave consequences for the country.
Attempt by the NPC/NCNC controlled federal government in the first republic to take over western region through its lackeys in the region led to the western regional crisis that later snowballed into the crisis that eventually ended Nigeria’s first attempt at democratic rule. Recall what happened to the second republic when the ruling National Party of Nigeria (NPN) of President Shehu Shagari forcefully claimed victory in Ondo State. The only ‘successful’ takeover of political power in the south west by the party at the centre to date was in 2003 when ‘son-of-the-soil’ President Olusegun Obasanjo manipulated the process, using the federal might, to claim victory for his Peoples democratic Party (PDP)in all but one of the south west states.
But not too long after, the people realized their mistake and took back what they lost to the PDP, safe Ondo State. Again, applying the federal might policy of intimidation, the federal government is on another mission to forcefully take over the south west targeting Ekiti and Osun states as prelude to pocketing the remaining four states of the region in the 2015 general elections. And with Ekiti already in the bag, Abuja is full of confidence that Osun too will fall. In the last few weeks, the state has been fully militarized by the Commander-In-Chief, President Goodluck Jonathan, who in defiance of wise counsel has moved soldiers, State Security operatives and of course the police into Osun to ‘deliver’ the state to the PDP. Whether he succeeds or not and what becomes of our democracy after Saturday is in the hands of time. For Jonathan, securing Osun, Ekiti and the rest of the south west states is not so much for the wealth of the region, but the millions of votes he needs to secure a second term. Whereas his party men in the region are only interested in the key to the treasuries of the Yoruba states in order to squander the resources.
With this premise, it is easier to understand the battle that lies ahead for the people of Osun State as the local ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate Governor Rauf Aregbesola confronts the PDP and its flag bearer, Senator Iyiola Omisore stoutly backed by the government at the centre.
Saturday’s election is not so much in the hands of Aregbesola or Omisore but the people of the state who must decide the direction they want to take their future. Where Osun State was before Aregbesola came in and where it is today should be their guide, and I will use education to illustrate my point here.
As a beneficiary of the Bola Ige administration free education programme in Oyo in the second republic, I recall what most members of my generation then were going through to go to school and stay in school before the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) came to power in the region in 1979 and education was made free. No more school fees; no more buying of books, all our parents had to do was feed us and buy our school uniform. I can still recall the happiness on my parents’ face when newly sworn in governor Bola Ige announced this at the Liberty stadium on October 1, 1979. They both heaved a sigh of relief as they listened to the pronouncement on radio. Before then they had been finding it difficult paying the school fees of my siblings and I. Even though the skeptics, especially in the NPN said it wasn’t possible and derided the quality of education we were getting in public schools, millions of parents stood by the UPN and their governors defying the federal might to secure their children’s future. Today that decision has been well justified; their sacrifice have not been in vain, their children are now successful men and women in their various fields, thanks in no small measure to the free education programme of the day. The NPN federal government did offer rice and money that time but they rejected them.
If one looks at the contributions of the Aregbesola administration in the last four years or thereabout to improving the standard of education in Osun State, one is tempted to say that if only for that he deserves, without blinking an eye, a second term in office. And that is the truth.
I don’t want to talk about the beautiful schools he has built all over the state or even the reclassification of schools that he has done, as some are wont to argue that aesthetics are not enough to make good schools, what about the free feeding programme on which over N3 billion is being spent annually; free school uniforms. What about the tablet of knowledge or ‘Opon Imo’ (a miniature computer or tablet) containing the entire senior Secondary School syllabus, books and WAEC/GCE examination papers given to Senior Secondary School students to prepare them for their final exams.
Any parent or guardian that understands what it takes to buy whole set of books for their children or ward(s), buy their uniform, pay their school fees and above all feed them (at least once a day) will appreciate the burden that Governor Aregbesola has taken off their shoulders. And it is only right and even godly to appreciate the man by giving him another term in office. This is the least they can do for a man who has taken it upon himself to better their lot. To Governor Rauf Aregbesola, serving the people (of Osun) is a commandment from God. I chose to dwell on his education programme (only a fraction of his achievements in this sector) because I believe, like Chief Obafemi Awolowo who saw the future of his Yoruba people in education far back in the 50s that is the best foundation for the future.
Aregbesola has laid a solid foundation for the future of his people in Osun, the people should allow him to build it further by rewarding him with a second term. Any other decision to the contrary could lead to eternal regret. A word is enough for the wise.
THE NATION

It’s E –Day in Osun State on Saturday. In just 48-hours, all the huffing and puffing; all the stomping about the state in the last few weeks will be over. Hopefully the people of Osun, the Omoluabis, would have made their choice and the initial winners and losers will emerge. The electoral battle between incumbent Governor Rauf Aregbesola and Senator Iyiola Omisore promises to be one of the most keenly contested in Nigeria’s recent history.
Were it in those days when the world wrote on scrolls and in long hand, Hardball would wager that a whole library of scrolls would have been filled with verbiage on the Osun election. In other words, there is hardly anything left to be said in this epic battle. All the boastings have been boasted, all the posturing have been postured; all that is left is for all parties to keep awake and ensure that the voting and collating processes are truly free, fair and without any glitch.
It may well signpost one of the most significant battles between the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) behemoth and the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC). Whichever party wins this will gain an important edge over the other. If PDP’s Omisore wins, it would amount to a most momentous victory for his party and may have set up a groundswell for the re-capture of the Southwest by the PDP, considering that Ondo and recently, Ekiti had been lost by APC. It is indeed a must win for Ogbeni and his party if only to stem the recent losses and imbue reassurance.
Ogbeni had put up a modest performance in the past three and a half years, surpassing the record of most of his predecessors. He is a man of the people, a man who cares passionately about the welfare of the people. He is the direct antithesis of Omisore, who could be appropriately qualified as a member of the conservative old order. He was a deputy governor and then he has been a senator since 2003. That is about all for his achievements and claim to leadership unless you want to recount the unfortunate incidence of the gruesome killing of Chief Bola Ige of which Omisore was seriously linked, though a court discharged and acquitted him.
Great leaders and politicians would naturally seize the grand pedestal of the Senate to define themselves and their raison d’etre.  But it is sad to admit that Omisore’s time in the upper chamber remains an insignificant blip in the annals of his people. A man who could not manage to be a great senator, how can he deign to seek to make a good governor? Most notably, one would have thought he would run an intellectualised campaign, carefully articulating his ideas; sadly, it has been a puerile outing, with the electorate not knowing neither what Omisore stands for, nor what he seeks to offer.
Finally, it has been widely conjectured that the Osun election may be crucially decided by the votes of Christians led by members of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). If that truly be the case, then one can be sure that the best candidate would be victorious because CAN is a most rational entity.

THE NATION

Photos of the Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, acknowledging cheers from the crowd during a one million man march round the street of the State Capital,  Osogbo by youths from all the Local Governments in support of his re-election on Monday 05-08-2014

It is another test case for the electoral commission
Come Saturday, the people of Osun State will go to the polls to elect who will govern them for the next four years. Coming so soon after the Ekiti State gubernatorial election in which the incumbent governor, Dr.  Kayode Fayemi of the All Progressives  Congress (APC), was defeated by Mr. Ayodele Fayose of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the stake in the Osun election has suddenly become very high as the two leading parties test their strength in preparation for the 2015 general elections. Challenging Governor Rauf Aregbesola of the APC is a former Deputy Governor of the State, Chief Iyiola Omisore.
The campaigns leading to the election, assuming we can use that word to qualify what has transpired in the state in the last one month, have witnessed threats of violence and all manner of intimidations. Yet violence and intimidation during election have no place in civilised society. We therefore enjoin the two candidates and their supporters to conduct their affairs before, during and after the Saturday election in such a manner that would be no room for coercion and violence.
As for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the message is simple: If the commission can conduct the Osun State polls without hitches, as it did in Ekiti State two months ago, then Professor Attahiru Jega would have done a lot to restore the trust of Nigerians not only in his stewardship but also in the capacity of his commission to deliver on credible elections next year. We hope INEC can use the Osun State election to make another statement that it is not beyond its capacity to have people cast their ballots, count the votes and then make them count.
It is particularly important for INEC to use Saturday’s election to further test its preparedness for the challenges that would come with the 2015 general elections. Experiences with recent elections (outside of Ekiti State), reveal that voting materials were not only in short supply, many of the sensitive materials arrived the polling booths hours late in many places. Among others, there were complaints that election officials were not deployed in sufficient numbers in some polling units, prompting party agents to step in, while many prospective voters were disenfranchised, following the omission of their names or photographs in the voters’ register.
However, we must also sound a note of caution in that election is a process and not an event. To that extent, the role of the security agencies is very critical. For instance, as much as INEC conducted itself creditably in the course of the Ekiti State election, we cannot say the same of the military whose men practically behaved like an army of occupation. In the case of Osun State, it is the Police that should be watched, especially since Mr Jelili Adesiyan, the Minister of Police Affairs, is an interested party in the election.
We therefore call on the president to ensure that state power is not deployed for partisan purposes. Even when his party has a stake in this election, the president should remember that he is most importantly the president of the country and not just a party man. We call on him to impress it upon the Minister of Police that he has a responsibility not to use his office to precipitate any crisis in Osun State by deploying the Police to promote partisan interests. In similar vein, we consider last week’s show of force by those said to be officers of the Department of State Security (DSS) to be very unhelpful. Such evidently partial acts cast doubts on the credibility of elections and ultimately put peace and even democracy at risk.
At the end of the day, the people of Osun State deserve the right to elect the candidate they deem most fit to govern them for the next four years. May the best candidate win.

Mr Najeem Salaam is the  Speaker of the House State House of Assembly. In this interview, Salaam maintains that the outcome of the Ekiti State governorship election will not have any impact in Osun State. The Speaker also chided the Federal Government for allegedly stifling  the state by deducting it’s allocation. Excerpts:

How do you respond to President Goodluck Jonathan’s remarks that his party, the PDP, will reclaim Osun State?

Well, people are entitled to their opinions. As a politician and as president who belongs to a political party, he is entitled to his own opinion. He can say whatever he wants whichever way he wants to say it. But that is not the reality on ground in Osun state.

That will also lead me to react to what the Vice President, Namadi Sambo said that the man who came through the back door, will surely go through the back door. He was referring to the judgement of a competent court as a back door judgement. That is the implication of what he is saying. It is a bad signal he is sending to the judiciary and to the country.

President Jonathan has a right to speak on. Behalf of his party, but he should be mindful and careful of what his utterances in order not to cause chaos.

What effect do you think the Ekiti poll will have on Osun governorship election?

It does not have any serious impact in Osun State as far as we are concerned but it boosted the ego of the PDP. The PDP knows that Osun is unlike Ekiti State. What the governor has done so far will give our party victory on August 9. We know and the PDP knows that Ekiti and Osun states differ and the outcome will be in our favour.

Are you not worried over the growing level of attacks at the campaign rallies?

I am worried because of the violence that the PDP has introduced to the campaign rallies. I am also worried when the candidate of a political party is being guarded by masked persons. That is not democracy.

Look at the number of troops deployed to Ekiti State and from what we are hearing, they want to double the troops to be deployed to Osun state.

Are you kicking against the use of troops deployment for the August 9 elections?

Yes. We do not need it. What we are saying is that we have soldiers at Ede, they can make use of those rather than importing troops and security personnel into the state. If troops are imported, no one will detect real or fake soldiers.

In the constitution of our country, the only person who can declare curfew in a state is the governor unless there is a serious crisis. We are not at war, we are only preparing for elections. Why should they say people should not move from Friday, August 8 till Saturday night. Movement should not be restricted, they should not unnecessarily heat up the polity in Osun state.

But there have been insinuations that some members of your party have been using the State Boys to cause mayhem?

I have not seen where the State Boys were used to cause mayhem in the state.

But some members of the State Boys were arrested after a rally at Ilesha?

Those that were arrested were coming from a rally, they were not involved in any vice, they were stopped and picked up by the security agencies. Let me tell you that the plan of the PDP is to implicate some APC leaders in order to get them arrested.

Your party has raised an alarm over a plan to assassinate the governor.

In every rumour, there is an element of truth. Not only the governor, most of us have been listed.

Have you made any formal report to the Police?

We are waiting because we do not know what is wrong with the system. We do not know who to report to, we do not know who to trust or who can secure you. One is scared to report.

The government has been accused of not doing any new basic infrastructure?

People that are blind cannot see what we are doing. If one is blind, he or she will not see the development going on in Osun State. There is no local government in this state that does not have a tarred road inspite of the meagre resources we have.

Not minding the dwindling allocation to the state, we are moving on. We have managed to pay salaries and execute developmental projects. The federal government does not give us money because they do not want us to perform, all in the name of politics.

That is against the principle of true federalism. We have been denied funds to uplift our people. Some people are jittery because Aregbesola is performing.

Download and Share our Countdown Posters. It is 5 days to the Day Osun Decides. Who will you be voting for?  Share with us on Facebook (Government of the State of Osun) or Twitter @stateofosun

This is a poll conducted by TNS-RMS, a member of Gallup International and the image below breaks this down in an infographic manner. Share your thoughts with us on Facebook (Government of the State of Osun) or Twitter @stateofosun. To download, click here – A4-OsunOpinionPoll-info-1.

 
 

Photos of the Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola during the Official Launch of Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme-Technology (OYES-TECH) at Government House Lawn, Osogbo, State of Osun, during the weekend

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (2nd right); Managing Director, Osun Investment Company Limited (OSICOL), Alhaji Bola Oyebamiji (2nd left); Regional Director West/Central Africa, RLG Communications, Mr Tosin Ilesanmi (left) and Mr Basiru Adewale, during the Official Launch of Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme-Technology (OYES-TECH) at Government House Lawn, Osogbo, State of Osun, during the weekend

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (2nd right); Regional Director West/Central Africa, RLG Communications, Mr Tosin Ilesanmi (right); Managing Director, Osun Investment Company Limited (OSICOL), Alhaji Bola Oyebamiji (2nd left) and Mr Fakayode John (left), during the Official Launch of Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme-Technology (OYES-TECH) at Government House Lawn, Osogbo, State of Osun, during the weekend

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (2nd left); Regional Director West/Central Africa, RLG Communications, Mr Tosin Ilesanmi (2nd right); Managing Director, Osun Investment Company Limited (OSICOL), Alhaji Bola Oyebamiji (left) and Mrs Lawal Rasidat (right), during the Official Launch of Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme-Technology (OYES-TECH) at Government House Lawn, Osogbo, State of Osun, during the weekend

From right, Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; Managing Director, Osun Investment Company Limited (OSICOL), Alhaji Bola Oyebamiji; Regional Director West/Central Africa, RLG Communications, Mr Tosin Ilesanmi and Head Commercial Unit, RLG Communications, Mr Emeka Nkpa, during the Official Launch of Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme-Technology (OYES-TECH) at Government House Lawn, Osogbo, State of Osun, during the weekend

Friday, May 24, 2013, thirty-five governors gathered to vote for the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF). With the initial postponement and intrigues that surrounded it, it was going to be a night of long knives.

With the Presidency interested in the outcome and with Governor Rotimi Amaechi determined to give it another shot in spite of his open confron­tation with the President, it was going to take more than ordi­nary determination to navigate the treacherous waters. It would take grit, uncommon courage and the ability to outfox the henchmen of the Presidency. At the entrance of the venue of the election, all the Governors were mandated to submit all their mobile phones.

But one man particularly sus­pected there was going to be foul play so he sneaked in a pen cam­era. He recorded the vote count­ing surreptitiously until when Governor Godswill Akpabio no­ticed they were being secretly re­corded. When controversy sprang up on the actual winner of the contest, he released the video to the public. The man who exposed the lie was Ogbeni Rauf Aregbe­sola, the Governor of Osun State.

Controversy is his middle name. For nine months, he operat­ed solely without commissioners. He renamed Osun State and gave it a new nomenclature: ‘State of Osun.’ He fashioned a new educa­tional policy and called it reclas­sification of schools. In one fell swoop, schools were merged and bedlam ensued.

In spite of the unending contro­versies and despite the appoint­ment of an Osun State indigene, Jelili Adesiyan, as the Minister of Police Affairs, it is my carefully considered opinion that Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola will win the Au­gust 9 election. Here’s why I think he will trump Otunba Iyiola Omi­sore, the PDP’s candidate.

Iyiola Omisore is not Peter Ayodele Fayose. He lacks the cha­risma of Fayose. He is not a Jimi Agbaje. He lacks the character of Agbaje. He doesn’t have the mass appeal. You cannot deny that he has a semblance of structure hav­ing been the Deputy Governor of the State and also a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

In addition, his campaign is a poor caricature of Ayodele Fay­ose’s. Whoever is his campaign director needs to get fired as he has run one of the most bizarre and lacklustre campaigns ever. His efforts to align with the mass­es fell flat- his handling of two roasted corn cobs in both hands, his ride to a campaign venue on an ‘okada’ and his absurd combi­nation of two different ‘Ankara’ materials as cloth, are images that have defined his campaign. He has not successfully exploited Rauf Aregbesola’s obvious weak­nesses.

When it was time to debate Og­beni, he didn’t show up. That was an opportunity to redeem himself but he failed to utilize it. Ayo Fay­ose challenged Kayode Fayemi for a walk on the streets of Ado-Ekiti but Iyiola Omisore claimed he didn’t come for the debate be­cause he didn’t want Ogbeni to beat him up.

In fact, Ogbeni will be gifted this election not because of his superlative performance but pri­marily because of Omisore’s can­didature.

No situation exacerbated the looming disunity in Osun State PDP than the statement credited to the Minister for Police Affairs that he will beat Senator Isiaka Adeleke when he leaves office. Adeleke claimed he was assaulted during a party meeting and he subsequently defected to APC. Fatai Akinbade, a former Chair­man of the State PDP and a man who served three different times as Commissioner under three dif­ferent military regimes, also de­fected to the Labour Party.

Former Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola has not come out openly in support of Iyiola Omisore de­spite belonging to the same party. In fact, he was even courted by the top echelon of the APC. As a former National Secretary of the party and also a former Governor of the State, his body language speaks volumes. Oyinlola is a Prince of Okuku, the capital of Odo-Otin Local Government, one of the 30 Local Government areas in Osun State. It is instructive to note that Odo-Otin is one of the three local government council areas with the highest number of 15 wards in the state after Osogbo and Iwo.

In spite of his controversies, only a blind man will ignore Og­beni’s performance. He has built mega schools, many of them super infrastructures with com­mendable appurtenances. He has constructed over 20 intercity roads and more than 15 intra-city roads. This is apart from some very ambitious dualization proj­ects embarked upon. The free festive inter-city train ride from Lagos to Osogbo has become a constant feature of his administra­tion. I was informed that he has built 74 primary health Centres all over Osun State. He has increased IGR in Osun from N300m to N1.6b and has not been known to borrow from any financial insti­tution, save for the Islamic bond he took. His O’Meals project is laudable. Love him or hate him, there’s no denying the fact that he has improved the face of gover­nance in the state.

Ogbeni has embarked on a blitzkrieg of a campaign. Maybe due to the lessons learnt from Ekiti’s recent election, he has left no stone unturned. This is the first time I’m seeing an incumbent campaign as if he’s the underdog. He has run a very good campaign so far- both terrestrially and on so­cial media. Going by his student unionism antecedents, one is not too surprised that he has at least two former student leaders in his cabinet and they are both active in running his campaign. Most of the controversial issues raised have been either effectively addressed or well mitigated by this team.

When the issue of religious fundamentalism came up, they re­leased the video of Bishop David Oyedepo’s visit. Ogbeni has been photographed genuflecting to Pas­tor Enoch Adejare Adeboye. He attended a major night vigil orga­nized by a white garment church. He has been dancing ‘skelewu’ at all rallies to show he can connect with the populace.

He has run his campaign with­out Bola Tinubu being visible so the issue of the overbearing influ­ence of the APC leader has been largely well managed. Ogbeni runs the best propaganda machin­ery in the South West and the ef­fect can be seen in how he has successfully diverted attention from his controversies.

I therefore have no doubt that he is going to win the governor­ship election of August 9 in a landslide.

Adeyinka writes from Lagos.

SUNNEWS

S

The election on Saturday is a battle between good and evil. For those who think that the way to win is to seek violence, manipulate elections and turn the state into a platform for contagion, they should beware. The signs are bad. What is at stake is not Omisore, or Aregbesola. What is at stake is not PDP or APC, or stomach infrastructure.
What is at stake is the honour and survival of this democracy. Those who want to sacrifice their state and the high horse of integrity should not conflate their private estate with the vast and variegated behemoth of Nigeria. Power is an aphrodisiac. It elevates before it destroys. The tragedy is that when it destroys, it sometimes does not destroy the source of calamity. It throws its power on the innocent. The people of Osun must be ready to defend their votes and not yield to the intimidation of the military.
There is life after election. But to those who seek power by all means, they have no life if they don’t win. They have no right to impose that on the rest of us. The good is a free and fair poll. The evil is rigging. The choice is clear!
THE NATION