The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has alleged that officers and men of the Nigeria Police stationed for the governorship rerun election in Osun state were compromised.
The NBA who referred to a report prepared by the ad hoc committee set up to look into the September 27 supplementary governorship election in Osun State said the police had refused to question the activities of the “fierce-looking men who invaded the area at Orolu where some voting took place during the rerun.
According to the report of the committee which was headed by Mr. Tawo Tawo (SAN), the conduct of the rerun was far from what had occurred earlier on September 22 where the process was adjudged to have been fair and peaceful.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared the September 22 guber exercise as inconclusive after Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was leading with 353 votes.
His closest rival Gboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC) however came from behind to win the supplementary poll and the declared winner in the final results.
The NBA said the men of the Nigeria Police had compromised the rerun election by their actions and inaction while the exercise lasted. According to the report;
“In conclusion, the rerun of the Osun State governorship election fell far short of a free and fair election compared to what transpired in the election of the 22nd of September, 2018 in Osun State which was, however, declared inconclusive.
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“From the actions and inaction of the Nigerian Police Force, they appeared to have been compromised given the fact that the Police did not question the activities of the about fifty (50) fierce-looking men who invaded the area at Orolu.”
The NBA said further that members of its observation team had monitored the election at Osogbo polling unit 17, ward 5, in Osogbo where they observed “massive armed security presence with movement around the polling unit restricted voters and observers.”
The report also noted that all the election materials were made available for the election and the electoral protocols for voting were fulfilled by the electoral officers at the unit.
It went ahead to state that accreditation and voting commenced at about 8:02 am and the voting process went on smoothly till about 11:30 am when several hoodlums invaded the area in an attempt to disrupt the process but the situation was brought under control by the security personnel present.
“In spite of the seeming and subtle form of intimidation, voters were undaunted as they did cast their votes. There was substantial compliance with the election process and procedure at the polling units.” The report continued.
Continuing further it was also reported that at Orolu where the rerun exercise held in Ward 8, polling units 1 and 4, and Ward 9, polling unit 3, members of the monitoring team were harassed and subsequently arrested by the police.
The observers further reported that it took the intervention of Mr. Festus Okoye, the current INEC Commissioner representing the South-East geopolitical zone, to secure their release.
“There was heavy security presence with about thirty armed Police officials at Orolu. At about 10:00 am, while figuring out how to get to Idiya Polling Unit in Orolu, four Toyota Hiace buses packed with about 50 fierce-looking men, drove in and the men alighted and walked towards the polling unit without any PVC in their hands.
In spite of the heavy security presence of the Nigeria Police, these men were not stopped nor asked if they were going to vote neither were they asked for their PVCs. This, however, aroused our suspicion.
A member of the NBA Ad hoc EWG who attempted a recording of the happenings (a few seconds was recorded though) was almost attacked by about six of these men. Surprisingly, the police officials stood aloof and did nothing to stop the invasion by this group of men.
The reason given by the security men (police officials) for their inaction was that they could not act without formal complaints from us. Another observation at Orolu was that most of the voters had identification bands on their left arms and ring bands on their thumbs. Those with the said identification bands were allowed access into Orolu while those without the bands were not allowed access and so could not vote.
Although these voters without the bands displayed their PVCs to the policemen on the ground as evidence that they had been registered to vote at that particular polling unit, the police personnel adamantly turned them back and as such, they could not exercise their right to vote.” The report concluded.