Ekiti gov rerun: Fayemi, Fayose brought thugs, arms into Ekiti with fathers’ burials - Oni - Kill your father to commit atrocity - Fayemi - INEC to deploy 7 RECs for rerun

From Dapo Falade, Stephen Gbadamosi and Taiwo Adisa - 15.04.2009

FORMER governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, and the Action Congress (AC) governorship candidate in the rerun slated for April 25 in the state, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, have been alleged to be using the burial ceremonies of their fathers to move thugs and dangerous weapons into the state ahead of the election.

The chairman, Media and Publicity Committee of the Segun Oni Campaign Organisation (SOCO), Prince Dayo Adeyeye, made the allegation yesterday. Fayose buried his father at Afao-Ekiti last week, while the burial of Dr. Fayemi’s father is billed for the 17th and 18th of this month, a few days to the election.

The AC candidate, in his reaction to the allegation, said that if Oni thought that it was right to use one’s father’s burial to encourage brigandage, he should kill his own father and “use it to cover any atrocity he likes to commit.”

Adeyeye, in a statement in Ado-Ekiti yesterday, called on security agencies to beam their searchlights on Afao-Ekiti and Isan-Ekiti, Fayose’s and Fayemi’s hometown respectively. He added that hoodlums that were brought to the state last week under the pretence of attending Fayose father’s burial were yet to leave the state.

“We have been reliably informed that the thugs that came into the state last week under the pretence of attending the burial of Pa John Oluwayose, father of Mr. Ayo Fayose, are now being sent to other parts of the state, while many of them are still residing in Afao-Ekiti.

“The thugs, some of whom are covering their faces with masks, have been unleashing terror on the people of Are, Eyio, Iworoko and Igbemo. They have been harassing innocent people and preventing them from going to their farms, while also defecating in public places.

“Also, it has been uncovered that Fayemi would also be using the burial of his father slated for Saturday, April 18, to bring hoodlums to be used duringthe April 25 rerun into the state. Dangerous weapons and hard drugs are billed to be moved into the state under the cover of clothing and other materials needed for the burial ceremony.

“We are also not unaware of the plan to use Fayemi’s father’s burial to ferry mobile policemen into the state illegally. The MOPOL, expected to be close to 300, are to be made to appear as security personnel of top government officials from Lagos .

“It should be noted that we had earlier raised the alarm over the procurement of no fewer than 10,000 fake Mobile Police and Man-O-War uniforms, thousands of unlawful, sophisticated arms and ammunition and thugs for use during the election,” Adeyeye said.

But Fayemi, who also spoke through the Director of Communication of his campaign organisation, Mr. Yemi Adaramodu, laughed off the allegation, describing it as unimaginable and one that could only come from a person who had no respect for the dead.

“It is only a person that has no respect for the dead and for the sanctity of a departed soul that could fabricate such an allegation all in the name of politics. We know the PDP too well, but one is only surprised that they would drag the names of the departed into the murky politics they want to entrench in Ekiti State .

“However, if they think it is right to use the occasion of one’s parent’s burial to encourage brigandage, they should go and kill their fathers and use the burials to carry out their atrocities and other nefarious activities they are committing. We are not like them; we have nothing to hide, and as you know, the guilty are always afraid. It is fear that makes them to cook up those spurious allegations,” Adaramodu said.

While calling on the police and other security agencies to redouble their efforts at subjecting vehicles moving in and out of the state to thorough check, Adeyeye said: “Vehicles moving in and out of Isan, Afao and the entire state should be subjected to thorough check. No vehicle should be treated as official, because official number plates from Lagos State have been made available to all the vehicles that would be conveying the thugs and ammunition to the state starting from Thursday.”

Adeyeye, a one-time chieftain of Afenifere, a Yoruba socio-political group, commended men of the state police command over the arrest of five suspected thugs with a large cache of arms and ammunition on Saturday. He urged security agencies in the state to remain vigilant as the April 25 date for the rerun governorship election draws near.

Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is set to deploy four Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) to supervise the governorship rerun in Ekiti State scheduled for April 25

Sources close to the electoral commission told the Nigerian Tribune that the commission had been putting together a list of three RECs who would be asked to join the state Resident Commissioner.

It was gathered that the commission had come to the conclusion that because of the volatility of the state, the rerun should not be left to the state Resident Electoral Commissioner alone.

It was gathered that besides the three other RECs who would be mobilised to join the Ekiti REC, the commission would also mobilise the national commissioners to join in the monitoring and the conduct of the rerun.

Sources close to the commission said that the Chairman of INEC, Professor Maurice Iwu, had ordered a series of meetings to determine the processes for the conduct of the election.

A source said that a meeting was held last Monday, during which it was decided that about four RECs and three national commissioners should be deployed for the election.

The Appeal Court in Ilorin had in February set the tone for the rerun in parts of Ekiti State when it nullified the election of Governor Segun Oni. The former governor is being challenged by the Action Congress (AC) candidate, Dr. Kayode Fayemi.

It was also gathered that the INEC had decided to deploy its best resources to conduct and monitor the rerun election. Said a source: “We have received the directive from the Chairman that every right step must be taken to conduct the rerun and we have flagged off efforts already. We are holding series of meetings to ensure that things are properly positioned. To this end, it has been decided that no fewer than three RECs will join the Ekiti REC for the election, while at least three National Commissioners will also be in place to conduct the election.

“We will ensure that we are transparent from the start to the finish of the election and I am sure that at the end of the election, all parties will be satisfied with our efforts,” the source said.

The election will take place in 64 wards and in 10 out of the 16 local government areas of the state.