The Senatorial Election in Kwara Central, a north central state in Nigeria, was much more of an electoral miracle. By as early as 1:00p.m. voting has been ‘completed’ and counting which were ordinarily supposed to start by the prescription of the electoral agency at 3:00p.m. had been completed at 2:10p.m.
In most of the voting centres we visited, there were only Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) party agents. When questions were raised, we were told ‘the other political parties had withdrawn for our candidate, Gbemi Saraki, younger sister of the sitting governor-Bukola Saraki- who mangled his way to a re-election using guns and thugs to manipulate votes at the collation centre a fortnight ago in a most commando type of blitzkrieg.
Investigations revealed that there were two buses without identification number which went round the polling booths at about 10:30a.m. which were used to pick the Action Congress (AC) party agents. The buses was said to be commanded by a Kwara State government top official aided by armed stern looking mobile (riot) policemen.
Visits to the appropriate police formations where these persons would have been kept did not indicate any such ‘arrests’. Curious to know their whereabouts, we gathered from sources which earnestly pleaded for anonymity that ‘they were either moved into the Government House or Mandate House’
At Afon, headquarters of Asa local government, one of the 16 in the state, which falls into the senatorial district, it was sad knowing that there was a marked Police complicity. All the AC party agents were arrested, taken to the police station where the DPO (Ekwenna) tried effortlessly to hide his name tag by scrupulous means, saying in one breathe that ‘they were causing trouble’ and at another time said, ‘they were caught smoking hemp’.
Meanwhile, this is coming from the background of a well scripted plan to annihilate the party, which has shown every tendency to sweep the polls in the Kwara Central, where the Sarakis used to have a monologous control and hold. The state Chairman and secretary, Prince Sunday Fagbemi and Bolaji Edun, a lawyer, were framed up and remanded in prison custody by a magistrate court.
Two days after, the home of the party’s Public Relations Officer, Rasaq Gidado was invaded by ‘thieves’ who came in two white Mitsubishi buses. They ransacked the house and removed properties and valuables of the family. The following day, they repeated the same.
By the second day when they invaded the Gidados, they had in the same commando style attacked the home of the AC senatorial flagbearer, Princess Bilikisu Gambari, the half sister of the Emir of Ilorin, Ibrahim Gambari, who is known to be a Saraki supporter. Bilikisu’s household was burnt to ashes.
Incidentally, the Police has not been able to conclude investigation. That if at all they are investigating. They of course, would not have been able to investigate. The police in Kwara is a parastatal of the Government House.
Lanrewaju Jimoh, a CSP, is Bukola Saraki’s lackey and friend. He is the one used to link up the top hierarchy of the Police for financial inducement. Two days before the general elections commenced, the state government midwived some ‘welfare schemes’ for the wives of police officers running into some 15million Naira. Jimoh’s wife is a Personal staff of Mrs. Toyin Saraki, wife of the sitting governor, Bukola Saraki.
All arrests of opposition political party members, their being schemed to court is done by Lanre Jimoh. At the judiciary, the Chief Judge, Saka Yusuf, whose controversial age saga raged and rubbished the independence of the Nigerian Judicial Council (NJC) facilitates ‘favourable’ magistrates hear the matter and slam them to prison.
At the last count, over 239 persons had been so remanded. They ensure bail terms are so difficult to meet like asking a level 13 civil servant to come forward to stand bail for an opposition politician against the government interest.
As in the gubernatorial election where the Accord Party led by former Osun and Bauchi States military administrator, Theophilus Bamigboye won given the results at the polling booths, which was manipulated with guns and thugs, 10 Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) agents have not been found till now.
The same was the case in the Houses of assembly polls. They allocated figures to themselves to have a 100% sweep of the polls with people who can barely speak one sentence of English correct. People who cannot win an election in the various wards they have come from! They have also ‘won’ the Senate seat!
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