Ibadan elite raise alarm over attempt to pervert justice at tribunal

By Adeolu Adeyemo - 07.01.2008

The Ibadan elite on Saturday raised the alarm over purported plan by some politicians including some influential people in Oyo State to bribe members of the election petition tribunal sitting in the state to pervert justice on the results of the last April 14 governorship elections.

The elite, who raised the alarm at the annual end-of-the-year luncheon of the Oluyole Club hosted by a director of the Punch Newspapers, Dr. Lekan Are, in Ibadan, vowed to resist the move and maintained that no one would be able to tamper with the outcome of the tribunal.

They spoke through their chairman, Ambassador Olusola Sanu, calling on other people of the state to join hands with them to wage war against an act that could bring setback to the state and the people of the state.

“As far as the forum is concerned, the election was rigged. No electorate could accept the result of an election held in such a disgraceful atmosphere. No one could declare, in all sincerity, that the election in Oyo State had been conducted in a free and fair manner.

“We are aware that various attempts have been made to bribe members of the tribunal. We believe that these efforts will fail. We will not fold our arms and see things falling apart politically in the state. We will try our best to discourage the move.”

“We will do everything within our powers to frustrate the clandestine moves because it was the governorship candidate of the All Nigeria Peoples Party in Oyo State, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, who won the April 14, 2007 election.”

The chairman who was a former Ambassador to the United States and Mexico, however, attributed the electoral fraud recorded in the state during the election to the handiwork of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).