A warning has been issued regarding the potential for thug violence that might disrupt the calm of electoral activities in Osun State just days before the gubernatorial election.
This was noted by Mr. Ezenwa Nwagwu of Yiaga Africa, a civic hub and the Chairman, Partners for Electoral Reform.
According to Nwagwu, Yiaga Africa has highlighted in a report released on Tuesday that cultist and hoodlum activities are rapidly becoming a recurrence in the Osun pre-election environment ahead of the election.
In his words, “the major political parties have intensified their campaigns deploying both legal and illegal antics in an attempt to win the race to the Government house. The Osun election is however beyond the contest for the office of the Governor as the political parties compete tough in a last-ditch effort to gain a strong impetus going into the crucial 2023 general elections.
“With barely 10 days to the Osun Governorship election, the political and security atmosphere has remained tensely unpredictable with the security agency describing every Local Government Area as a potential flashpoint. Yiaga Africa’s pre-election reports have revealed the activities of cultists and political thugs in some local government areas (LGA) as capable of threatening the peaceful and credible conduct of the election, if not contained.
“In addition to this threat, there are also attempts by some political mercenaries to manipulate the process right from the pre-election stage.”
According to the civic hub’s reports titled ‘Yiaga Africa’s Pre-Election Observation (PREO)’, it says the actions of the important election stakeholders, as well as indicators of electoral violence from a period between May 26 and June 16.
A total of 31 long-term citizen observers (LTOs) were sent by Yiaga Africa across the 30 local government areas (LGAs) of Osun State to rigorously monitor the pre-election climate in those local governments.
The report urged political parties and candidates to run issue-based campaigns rather than enlist thugs and cult members for violence or participate in voter enticement.
In the study, Yiaga Africa made the recommendation that security services make sure that everyone engaging in any type of violence in the days preceding the election is detained and prosecuted.
According to the group, there have been complaints of political parties inducing voters in four local government areas of Osun.
“This pre-election observation period still reveals activities of hoodlums and cultists in the state with the recent critical incident being the disruption of PVC collection in Ilesa Local Government Area of the state.
“Reports of activities of cultists and hoodlums are gradually becoming a recurrence in the Osun pre-election environment ahead of the election,” the report made available to DAILY POST stated.
“In particular, WTV received reports from Iwara ward 1 in Atakumosa East where PDP supporters were seen distributing money to citizens to travel to the INEC office at the local government headquarters to collect their PVCs, this is intended to get the citizens to vote for the PDP on the election day.
“Additionally, WTV LTO reported the distribution of gifts in the form of food items by the APC and PDP supporters
around the Odo-Otin local government. The distribution of bread and garri during the PDP campaign as well as the distribution of beans during an APC campaign rally. Both incidents took place in Ekosin-Inisa in the LGA of Odo-Otin.”
It subsequently asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to consistently provide updates on the number of PVCs collected ahead of the state election.
