June 21, 2014
With the highly charged Ekiti governorship election underway today, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused Nigeria’s security agents of orchestrating a “massive clampdown on the party's leaders as well as journalists.”The party made the allegation in a statement issued today in Lagos by Lai Mohammed, the APC’s national publicity secretary. According to the statement, security agents arrested 23 of its party officials at Egbe-Ekiti and took them to Ikere-Ekiti, adding that two party leaders were arrested in Ilawe while 11 were seized in Ado-Ekiti. The statement said the APC’s arrested officials include Charles Fashuba, Tolu Ajayi, Elesun, Olu Hero, and Gboyega Fabuero, adding that one Femi Ogunleye, a member of the rival Peoples Democratic Party was the person who pointed out the APC officials to security agents. The APC alleged that its leaders were arrested to prevent them from casting their own votes, monitoring the election and subsequently being present at the collation centers. “Ekiti has witnessed a massive turnout of voters despite the massive deployment of troops and policemen, ostensibly to provide security for the election but in reality to intimidate and harass voters to stay away from the polling units,” Mr. Mohammed said. He added: “Now that the strategy of the PDP-led federal government has failed despite their over-militarization of the state, they have unleashed security agents on the leaders of the APC to prevent them from monitoring the collation of results.” The party accused the security agents of also descending on journalists who were duly accredited to cover the election. According to the APC’s spokesman, a detachment of police officers led by G.B. Seleke, a commander of a mobile police unit, physically apprehended at least five reporters and took them to the boundary of Ekiti and Kwara States.The APC said more than 50 mobile police officers took part in the operation to arrest the reporters. It said the banished reporters included Jadesola Ajibola of Inspiration FM as well as Toyin Yusuf, Oyetunji Ojo, Akin Ogunsola, and Aremu Awolola, all of the Osun State Broadcasting Corporation (OSBC). In addition, the APC alleged that security agents, who said they were acting on “orders from above,” locked out voters and election officials at the Ekiti State Government College in Ado Ekiti, thereby causing political agitation. The APC also said that other irregularities observed in today’s election include the absence of the names of APC members from INEC lists in Wards 3 and 4 in Gbonyin local government area; the harassment of the elderly father of Governor Kayode Fayemi, Bimbola Daramola, by gun-wielding security agents; a plot to burn ballot boxes should the APC win in Ward 2 Ifaki unit 7 in Ido-Osi local government area. The APC also alleged that PDP officials were using fake soldiers, purportedly from the 82 Division of the Nigerian Army, to harass and intimidate voters in different parts of Ekiti State. The APC urged local and international observers of the election to focus on the irregularities and to demand that they be rectified in the interest of a free and fair election in Ekiti State.
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