The dust raised by the alleged leakage of secret recordings by a senior military officer of how the presidency influenced the June 21, 2014 governorship election in Ekiti State is yet to settle as stakeholders have expressed concerns over the matter.

A military intelligence officer, Captain Sagir Koli, who leaked the controversial tape, had alleged that the presidency had arm-twisted the deployed personnel to work for the victory of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the election, while members of the opposition, the All Progressives Congress (APC), were constantly harassed.

The APC candidate in the disputed election and former governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi, hinted that some military officers have agreed in principle to appear in court to authenticate the veracity of the clips.

He said: “We are already taking appropriate constitutional steps on the matter. In fact, there are soldiers who are ready to testify in court.

“There are many Captain Sagir Kolis who are willing to give evidence in the court of law. I am just appealing to all Nigerians to be patient as events unfold”.

Fayemi lamented that it was unfortunate that Ekiti was used as a sacrificial lamb for the new rigging technique, saying it failed in Osun because the plot blew into the open with an alleged plot to deploy Momoh to Osun to re-enact Ekiti feat.

But, the winner of the poll, Governor Ayo Fayose, described the allegation as one of the familiar antics of the opposition party.

Fayose challenged Fayemi and his party to approach the court and tender their evidences against him, if they have any.

Commenting, former chairman of the PDP in Ekiti State, Bola Olu-Ojo, dismissed the audio clip describing it as fake.

He explained that there was nothing for the legislators to investigate, stressing that the victory of his party in the election was real and genuine.

According to him, if the Assembly must investigate it, then it must look for voice experts, but for its none issue.

Olu-Ojo, however, said the military could go ahead and dig into the matter if it had time to waste.

“For me, I don’t believe in the audio clips. But, if the National Assembly wants to investigate, then they must look for voice experts. Some people cannot concoct something and begin to make noise about it.”

In what appeared to be a confirmation of the allegation, Fayose said contrary to the notion that the military worked for the PDP, he was actually blaming the supervising military officer for undue romance with the APC in the recording.

The former chairman of Association of Local Government chairmen of Nigeria (ALGON) in Ekiti State, Toba Daramola, in his reaction, urged the National Assembly to commence investigations without further delay.

“I think it is just cause. Like the Yorubas used to say, there is no smoke without a fire.

“If the military is culpable, then the law must take its course and that will also serve as a deterrent to other politicians who might to abuse their offices and positions to influence polls”.

Daramola, an APC chieftain, said since the allegation came to the fore, the image of the country has once again been put to question.

He stated that if on the other hand the whole story or allegations is found to be incorrect, it will also put the matter to rest, but insisted that ignoring the matter may send a wrong signal to the outside world.

Also, Chairman of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), Tunji Ogunlola, supported the idea of investigation, saying it would check further harassment of the opposition.

Ogunlola, also a member of Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), explained that the deployment of the military may not be totally out of place, but past experiences had shown that the powers-that-be would always use them against the opposition.

“So, I think the National Assembly should get to the roots of the matter”, he added.

http://dailyindependentnig.com/2015/02/rigging-tape-ekiti-indigenes-differ-calls-probe/

Ftc

All hail king Fayose