In this write-up, TUNDE ODESOLA examines the
contention at the Osun State Election Petitions
Tribunal, which is considering the outcome of the
August 9 governorship election in the state
The name of King Solomon is synonymous with
riches. Unimaginable wealth. He is famous too
for having the most numerous wives and
concubines. But the most profound reason why
many remember him today is the wisdom in his
judgment on the two ‘mothers’ who laid claim to
a newborn. The king’s application of wisdom in
the dispensation of justice made the knotty
controversy look so simple. In an age lacking the
advantage of DNA technology, only the
application of wisdom such as Solomon’s could
unravel the mystery presented by the
inconsolable ‘mothers.’ Solomon’s judgment
made the resolution of the conflict look awesome
just as the masterstroke of genius generally
makes otherwise complicated endeavours look
simply extraordinary.
The three-member Osun State Election Petitions
Tribunal headed by Justice Suleiman Ambrusa
has commenced hearing into the 800-page
petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party’s
candidate in the August 9, 2014 governorship
election, Senator Iyiola Omisore. The PDP is the
2nd petitioner in the case.
The most dominant talking point during the
countdown to the governorship election was the
alleged militarisation of the election process.
Apart from allegations and counter allegations by
various political parties over attempts to rig,
monetise and sponsor electoral violence – all
components of Nigerian elections – the
deployment of several thousands of security
personnel for the election was a subject of
condemnation and litigation by the ruling All
Progressives Congress.
A few days to the election, the Minister of State
for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, in an
interview in Osogbo, justified the deployment of
armed security personnel in the Army, police,
Department of State Service, Nigeria Security and
Civil Defence Corps, Nigerian Customs Service,
Nigerian Immigration Service, among others, for
the election. A confident Obanikoro said the
deployment would check the violence and rigging
purportedly being planned by the ruling APC.
Debunking the insinuation that the massive
deployment of armed security personnel for the
election was a reflection of President Goodluck
Jonathan’s plan to wrest the South-West from
the grip of the APC at all cost, ahead the 2015
presidential election, Koro, as the minister is
popularly called, said only the guilty were afraid.
He contended that there was no need for the
APC to be afraid if it did not have skeleton in the
cupboard.
He said, “We won’t allow them to rig. We know
their game. Why are they afraid? We want to
create a conducive environment for registered
voters to come out, vote and return to their
homes safely. This was how they complained in
Ekiti but the Ekiti election turned out to be free
and fair. Not a single shot of bullet was fired in
Ekiti. We are going to achieve that in Osun too.
We will not allow them bring in thugs from other
APC states.”
Barely four days to the election, armed DSS
operatives, in a convoy of 30 vehicles, traversed
Osun communities which included Osogbo, Iwo,
Ilesa, Ode-Omu, Iwo, Ikirun, Ejigbo, Esa-Oke,
Atakumosa, Iragbiji, Eripa, Ada, Iree, Ila, Ede,
Okuku, among others. The operatives, some of
whom wore masks, fired gunshots into the air,
creating panic among residents.
The 1st respondent and incumbent governor of
the state, Rauf Aregbesola, and his party faulted
the deployment and action of the security
operatives to Osun, alleging that the action was
a ploy by the PDP-led Federal Government to
capture Osun by all means. A few days to the
election, the spokesperson of the Osun APC, Mr.
Kunle Oyatomi, said the Osun governorship
election remained the most militarised in the
history of the country. His counterpart in the
PDP, Mr. Bola Ajao, however, supported the
deployment of armed security operatives, saying
it was a step in making the election violence-free
and credible.
Basically, the desirability or otherwise of the
security deployment tore Osun’s political class
along party lines with the leadership of the PDP
at the national and state levels supporting the
action while the APC national and state
leaderships vehemently condemned the action.
The state Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Gani
Olaoluwa, said his party went to the tribunal to
challenge the violence and rigging that
characterised the election. In the petition before
the tribunal, Omisore and the PDP prayed the
tribunal to dismiss the victory of Aregbesola on
the ground that his election did not meet certain
conditions required by the Electoral Act. Averring
that the grounds of the petition are known to the
law, Omisore and the PDP told the court that the
election was marred by violence in 17 local
government councils of Ayedaade, Atakumosa-
East, Boripe, Ede-North, Ede-South, Ejigbo,
Ifelodun, Ilesa-East, Ilesa-West, Irepodun,
Irewole, Iwo, Obokun, Olaoluwa, Olorunda, Oriade
and Osogbo. Paragraph 22 of the petition
contended that the scores of Aregbesola in the
aforementioned councils were unlawful. The
petitioners stressed that the scores collated in
forms EC8C and EC8D were illegal.
But the APC, which is the 2nd respondent,
averred that the 1st petitioner “is not qualified to
be elected as governor having not been educated
up to at least School Certificate level or its
equivalent.” Also, the 2nd respondent contended
that Omisore was not duly nominated to contest
the election on the platform of the PDP. It further
stated that Omisore did not score up to 25 per
cent of the lawful votes cast in each of the 30
local government councils of Osun State and
thus did not satisfy the provisions of the
Constitution and the Electoral Act.
Omisore alleged that the Resident Electoral
Commissioner of the Independent National
Electoral Commission, Osun State, Ambassador
Rufus Akeju, manipulated voter registration in
favour of Aregbesola and the APC – a claim
which the APC denied. In a response to the claim
of Omisore and the PDP, Aregbesola averred that
at no time was an order of court granted that
Akeju should not carry out and or participate in
the voter registration exercise, saying the 2nd
petitioner “voluntarily discontinued an action it
brought seeking to restrain the 3rd respondent
from allowing the said Ambassador Rufus
Olawatoyin Akeju to participate in the voters
registration exercise in Osun State.”
Aregbesola maintained that the petitioner and his
party made “copious allegations against security
agencies in many paragraphs of the petitions
without joining the security agencies as parties
to the petition, adding that “all the paragraphs
wherein the petitioners made allegations against
the security agencies were liable and ought to be
struck out.”
On the allegation that the 3rd respondent, INEC,
recruited some officials of the Osun Youth
Empowerment Scheme as ad hoc members for
the election with a view to manipulating the
outcome of the poll in favour of Aregbesola and
the APC, the ruling party said OYES members
were not agents of any organisation loyal to the
governor or his party. “The Osun Youth
Empowerment Scheme is an interventionist
programme of the State Government of Osun,
creating a volunteer scheme to reduce
unemployment among youths in the state
irrespective of political affiliation,” it said.
Paragraph 24 of the petition alleged that
Aregbesola, on the day of the election, sponsored
an advertisement on the Osun State
Broadcasting Corporation, Osogbo, canvassing
for votes. But the APC, which denied the
allegation, stated that there was no time, as
claimed by the petitioner, when the National
Broadcasting Corporation imposed a fine on the
radio arm of the corporation for alleged
misconduct. The party prayed the court to strike
out the paragraph on the grounds that the
necessary party was not joined in the petition
even as it debunked the allegation that the
secretariat of the Osun PDP was vandalised.
Commenting, the PDP deputy governorship
candidate, Chief Adejare Bello, said the real
winner of the election would soon emerge. Bello,
who stated that the petition was an expression
of the right of the opposition party, stressed that
there was nothing wrong in the party seeking
redress at the tribunal. He said, “There should
not be any misconception about (our party)
approaching the election tribunal to shed light on
some anomalies. The Electoral Act, as amended
in 2010, has spelt in clear terms that the election
petition tribunal has 180 days to dispense
petitions before it. The Appeal and the apex
courts also have a span of three months each to
dispense such cases if it gets to those levels.
Until all these avenues are explored, the people
cannot say who won the election.”
Osun State Commissioner for Information and
Strategy, Chief Sunday Akere, said the PDP
petition was absurd and laughable because none
of PDP agents at ward, local and state levels
reported any act of violence before, during or
after the election.
Akere said, “They were the ones, who called in
security forces to come and ensure security
during the election. All their polling agents in the
3, 970 polling units of the state signed the
results of the election. None of them made a
complaint of electoral violence. At all the 332
wards in the state, all their agents signed. At the
collation centres of the 30 local government
councils, all their agents signed. Their petition is
dead on arrival.”
Osun State Chair, APC, Biyi Adelowo, said the
election process secured by the heavy presence
of the security forces checked rigging and
violence even as he commended INEC’s
enlistment of the services of the Vice Chancellor,
Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Prof.
Bamitale Omole, and a host of lecturers, who
participated in the collation of results that were
transmitted live.
The state publicity secretary of the PDP, Ajao,
refused to sign the election result at the state
collation centre, Osogbo. He said the result of
the election was not acceptable to the party,
alleging malpractices by the APC.
But the Commissioner for Finance, Budget
Planning and Implementation, Dr. Wale
Bolorunduro, said: “This petition will expose how
not to abuse the judicial process. This is an
election where they brought over 100, 000
genuine and fake security officials into Osun.
This is an election in which they brought
Resident Electoral Commissioners for each of the
30 councils of the state. The only place where
there was misdemeanour was Ife, where Omisore
won. There was no polling unit where there was
no armed security personnel. If there were armed
security men given specific instruction to be
hostile to us, where would we get the room to
parley with INEC or the EOs? The party that
cannot rig in the election was APC.”
Special Adviser to Aregbesola on Environment,
Bola Ilori, said: “The party’s National Publicity
Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Osun
Commissioner for Tourism, Sikiru Adetona,
Commissioner for Sports, Stephen Kola-Balogun,
and Commissioner for Justice and Attorney
General, Wale Afolabi, were arrested along with
several party leaders during the election. Chief
Isiaka Adeleke could not vote because he was
being trailed.
An independent monitor, who participated in the
election, Bola Alawode, said resort to the tribunal
by the PDP confirmed the futility in the
deployment of tens of thousands of military and
paramilitary personnel by the PDP-led Federal
Government to secure votes and voters. He said,
“The petition, no doubt, questions the integrity of
INEC and the popular wish of the masses. But
the tribunal must strengthen the electoral
process by ensuring that the rule of law prevails
in the determination of the case.”
Another monitor, Sola Ahmed, said the tribunal
should look into the allegations raised by the
petition dispassionately, not minding the result
of the poll.
He said, “The tribunal must not be swayed by
emotions. It must deliver justice in the matter.”
Meanwhile, the Ambrusa-led panel was dissolved
on Monday while another three-member panel
has been instituted.
Will Solomon come to justice in the Osun
election petition tribunal? www.punchng.com/politics/osun-from-election-battleground-to-tribunal/

omisore and d PDP in south west are just wasting their time they will be disappointed come Feb 14 2015 elections.