The All Progressives Congress, APC, has asked the state Police Command and other law enforcement bodies in Osun to beef up security within and outside the State High Court premises, venue of the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal.
The Tribunal is slated to resume its seating on Friday, January 13, 2023, for the final written addresses of applicants.
But the Osun APC said its call for security is with a view to nipping in the bud, any violence that may be orchestrated by disgruntled politicians.
Tajudeen Lawal, the state Acting APC Chairman, also commended the efforts of both the statutory and conventional security agencies since the inception of the tribunal, tasking them not to relent in their efforts.
In a statement signed by Kola Olabisi, the Osun APC Media Director on Thursday, Lawal said it was expedient for the assigned security officers at the Tribunal to discharge their duties without fear or favour and with the exhibition of civility during the course of performing their official responsibilities.
He also assured the security agents that the state APC members will conduct themselves in a peaceful manner during the tribunal sitting.
In his words, “I assured the security agents of the commitment of APC members to their usual orderliness and display of Omoluabi virtues in and outside the venue of the tribunal.
“I, however, advise the statutory security agents to extend the tentacles of their investigation of crimes in the state to bungle the boasted plans of some political stakeholders in the state to sponsor hoodlums to cause mayhem in and outside the tribunal venue.”
Commending the Osun APC members for exhibiting a spirit of resilience while attending the tribunal sessions, Lawal encouraged them not to waiver in their belief that justice would not only be served but will be seen to be served to the satisfaction of all the genuine lovers of democratic government.
“I urge the APC members to turn out in their usual numbers for the tribunal attendance in order to boost the morale of the party’s lawyers who have been working day and night to secure justice for the party in the July 16, 2022 governorship election.
“The members of our party should continue their usual culture of decorum no matter the provocation from any quarters in order to be active partakers in watching the imminent light at the end of the tunnel,” Lawal concluded.
On December 20, 2022, the Osun State gubernatorial election petition tribunal adjourned sitting to January 13, 2023, for final written addresses by Ademola Adeleke and Adegboyega Oyetola.
Adegboyega Oyetola of the APC had lost the July 16, 2023, Osun guber election to Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Oyetola also challenged Adeleke’s victory at the Osun gubernatorial election petition tribunal headed by Justice Tertsea Kume.
Osun: ‘Stop dreaming of returning to power’ – Human Rights Activist Tells Oyetola
Adeniyi Sulaiman, a human rights activist, has advised the immediate past governor of Osun State, Gboyega Oyetola, and his supporters led by the current speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Mr Timothy Owoeye, to stop dreaming of coming back to govern the state in the next four years.
The rights activist was reacting to the recent insinuations of Oyetola and Owoeye to stage a come back to power in the state through the back door after losing the July 16, 2022, governorship election to Governor Ademola Adeleke.
In a signed statement by Sulaiman and made available to journalists on Tuesday, January 10, 2023, he told the both leaders of the All Progressive Congress, APC, in the state “to stop their evil dreaming of coming back to governance of the state for this electioneering and governing period of Governor Adeleke administration.”
Sulaiman, who is the executive chairman, Centre for Human Rights and Social Justice, CHRSJ, urged them to accept their loss at the July 16, 2022, governorship election in good faith and prepare for the 2026 governorship election in Osun State.
According to him, ” Thinking of manipulating the electoral and judicial process if Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu won the presidential election to stage a comeback to power through the back door cannot be fruitful for Gboyega Oyetola because the law in respect of Electoral Act 2022 has settled everything, and no president can manipulate such electoral process again.
“Nigeria is not a banana republic where law would be made to satisfy the whims and caprices of Oyetola and Tinubu. For instance, all the opposition governors the courts ruled in their favour led to the conduct of staggering governorship elections in the country today were during the period of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidency and heaven did not fall.”
Sulaiman emphatically stated that the people of Osun State had given four years mandate to govern the state to Governor Adeleke on July 16, 2022, and God had stamped the mandate on November 27, 2022, stating that no living mortal can change it because “the voice of the people is the voice of God.”
Speaking on the ongoing Osun State Election Petition Tribunal, the pro-democracy activist noted that the election tribunal was not set up to favour any party but to deal with post-election issues, adding that the issues before the tribunal in respect of the July 16, 2022, governorship election were very clear, and the error of over voting in alleged six polling units would affect all the political parties that participated in the election.
Source: Daily Post
