ANPP agents accuse Arapaja of thuggery during election

By Adeolu Adeyemo - 15.01.2008

THE All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) agents during the House of Representatives election at the Ibadan South East and North East federal constituency in Oyo State on Monday accused the deputy governor of the state, Alhaji Taofeek Arapaja, of making use of thugs to perpetrate electoral fraud in the April 14, 2007 election in the state.

The three witnesses, Abimbola Onifade, Waheed Lawal and Femi Alogunlode, told the election petition tribunal sitting in Ibadan that apart from Arapaja, three other chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) also brought thugs to disrupt the exercise.

They told the tribunal that “we were beaten by the rampaging thugs with the PDP chieftains watching with keen interest and it must be pointed out to the tribunal that the election was neither free, fair nor peaceful because it was conducted under a crisis situation.”

One of the witnesses, Mr. Lawal, alleged that the thugs were armed with weapons and charms to perpetrate the electoral frauds and chased away the electorate.

He also said he ran away so as not to be killed by the people he desribed as fierce-looking ones. Also, in their own accounts, Onifade and Alogunlode said “another chieftain of the PDP led thugs to unleash mayhem at the Unit 4 polling booth in the area.”

They added that “we could not record our party’s score at the voting centres because the PDP members created a cloudy atmosphere and the voting exercise that started around 11.00 a.m. was brought to an abrupt end 30 minutes after because there was pandemonium.”

Meanwhile, the ANPP candidate in the election, Mr. Owolabi Akinyo, desribed the result of the election declared in the centre as fraud and charged the tribunal to look into the matter.

One of the witnesses, Lawal, when being crossed examined by the counsel to the respondent, Mr. Waheed Olajide, said that “I acted as the agent of my party at the polling booth marked Unit 28, Ward 10 at the Owode Academy area of the city.

“Most of my party supporters could not vote on the election date because Arapaja, in company with the former chairman of Ibadan South East Local Government Area, Mr. Akeem Ige, led thugs to disrupt the voting exercise.”

The sitting of the tribunal has been adjourned till today by the Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Sidi Bage.