Oyo PDP bye-election: Two council chairmen, 60 thugs arrested over electoral fraud

By Idowu Samuel, Jackson Udom, Rotimi Omole, Tope Abiola, and Qudirat Hakeem-Apanpa - 27.01.2008

A people’s Democratic Party (PDP) chairman from one of the local government councils in Ibadan (names withheld) has been arrested by the police with his vice chairman and 8 other suspects for disrupting voting exercise in Mele Ward II in Akinyele Local Government area during the Saturday bye-election.

Also arrested with him was a former local government chairman of Ibadan North West Local Government Area. The suspects were whisked to the Moniya Police Station immediately after their arrest, while two white Toyotal Hiace commuter buses, in which the suspects were alleged to have used to perpetrate the offence, have been grounded at the Moniya Police Station.

The two buses, marked Delta XA 6545 LK and XY 344 KJA, were said to have been loaded with thugs wielding dangerous arms and ammunition. While other suspects were said to have ran for cover as they sighted the policemen, the arrested eight suspects were not that lucky.

The suspects were said to have been picked up at about 11a.m when the voting exercise was in progress. The Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly, Hon. Atilola, was said to have led a host of other cabinet members to the station to rescue the two detained chairmen.

In Lalupon area of Lagelu Local Government, about 40 people were arrested during the crises that ensued between supporters of the PDP and theAC.

Also at ward 3, IDC Primary School, Ekerin Okijaran, ballot boxes were smashed, while suspected thugs burnt ballot papers. Some of the thugs apprehended by the Police, were seen with charms and weapons which were later collected and taken along with them to the station.

While they were being interrogated by journalists at the scene, the thugs, confessed that they were sent by the NURTW to carry out the operation. The thugs, loaded in a white 18-seater buses with registration numbers Oyo XC 438 MAP, Oyo XE 831 NRK, Abuja 2C 206 BWR, disclosed that they started the operation in the early hours of the day.

Meanwhile, the Police on Saturday in Ojoo, averted a bloody clash between supporters of a political party and INEC officials. The Police used tear gas to disperse the large crowd, suspected to be political thugs, who had gathered at the Ojoo junction of the Ibadan/Lagos expressway as early as 8 a.m.

The invasion of one of the polling centres in the local government by the crowd threw fear into residents of the area, with most retiring to their homes.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that INEC officials and residents of the area resisted attempt by the crowd, suspected to be members of a union, to take over the voting process.

Subsequently, they alerted the police station at Ojoo junction and security was beefed up by drafting detachments of policemen to the areas where tension was rising.

NAN Correspondents who monitored the exercise reported that the turn out of voters was low while there was also late arrival of voting materials at the polling centres.

However, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)has expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the bye-election in Akinyele and Lagalu federal constituency of Oyo State, which it described as generally peaceful.

The Commission commended the people of Oyo State for allowing the election to hold amid peaceful atmosphere, a development it described as a good omen for the state’s politics.

INEC’s National Commissioner in Charge of Operations, Soyebi Adedeji, who came from Abuja to monitor the election, said he was personally impressed by the general conduct and the turn out of voters.

He said although the voters turn out was low in some of the wards he visited, the percentage of general turn out, which he put at 47percent, made the whole exercise to be peaceful.

According to him, the election had cleared whatever misgivings that might have been held against the Oyo state politics, stressing that the state could not have demonstrated political maturity better by its ability to manage four major political parties without crisis.

In the same vein, the Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, Chief (Dr) Stephen Bawa Manya, commended the peaceful conduct of the bye-election in the federal constituency, commending the high level of understanding which he said the political parties exercised with one another.

The Commissioner predicted that the outcome of the election would be embraced by all the political parties, including the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP, the Action Congress (AC)and the All Nigerian Peoples Party, which, according to him, were the major contenders.

At Iyana Offa, a party agent, Mrs. Tawa Oladapo (a.k.a) Tawa was beaten to a pulp by political thugs before the arrival of the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ralph Ibeazor and his entourage to the area.

The governorship candidate of the Action Alliance (AA), Pastor Tayo Otegbeye, described the election as a charade. “This is not election at all. It has been taken over by thugs.”

Commenting on the arrests, the state deputy commissioner of police said “this morning my men got the information that those thugs were about going out to disturb the voting exercise and in a swift reaction we arrested over 39 of them, with dane guns, matchets, various kinds of charms and other weapons. The next move is to take them to the state CID for interrogation and on Monday take them to court.”

Also at Lalupon, a high ranking politician was said to have stormed the Lalupon police station in 13 vehicles to demand the release of the thugs who were detained in the state.

At Akobo area, a mobile policeman was said to have threatened to shoot a police officer at the polling booth if he prevented him from dumping thumb printed voter’s papers in the ballot box.

As at press time, over 60 arrested thugs had been taken to the state CID, Iyaganku, Ibadan.