The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for Ibarapa East/Ido federal constituency, Engr Aderemi Oseni has alleged the destruction and removal of outdoor billboards and campaign posters belonging to him and other APC candidates by the agents of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP-led government in Oyo state
Oseni, while condemning the act, accused the ruling party in the state of violating the nation’s democratic order and extant law, adding that clampdown on the opposition by the ruling party was largely informed not only by its desperate bid to dominate the polity at all cost, but because the constituents had rejected the party and its candidates.
In a statement issued on Tuesday by his Media Aide, Idowu Ayodele, the businessman cum clergy described the Sunday’s attack on the constituents in Ibarapa East local government by a gang of terror led by the chairman of the disciplinary committee of the Park Management System, (PMS), Mukaila Lamidi (Auxiliary) as an indication of his popularity and acceptability by the people.
He added that no amount of intimidation and onslaught against democratic order by the PDP-led government can change the resolve of the Ibarapa East/Ido constituents to vote for him and all the APC candidates in the forthcoming polls billed for next year.
The statement read thus: “It would be recalled that no fewer than two youths were allegedly shot dead in New Eruwa, Eruwa in the Ibarapa East local government area of Oyo state during the local government elections held under the Seyi Makinde-led PDP administration which was marred by violence. Today, families are still mourning their loved ones. As if this was not enough, the desperation to cling to power finally commenced as the men of the PMS empowered by Governor Seyi Makinde returned to the Ibarapa zone of the state to disrupt the fragile peace being enjoyed by the people.
“The people of Ibarapa East and Ido local governments are watching the atrocities of the hoodlums parading themselves as Park Managers. The people of Oyo-State who brought the present administration to power are also watching and will act decisively at the poll. On this note, I urge that this brigandage, reckless rascal behaviour and criminality should be thoroughly investigated and the perpetrators and their agents should be brought to book.
“The issues surrounding intimidation and undemocratic practices ahead of the forthcoming elections have again come to the fore. The constitutionally guaranteed right to freely associate is now under attack even as our state is being pushed to the brink. I am confident that those doing this would one day face the consequences of their actions.
“The PDP and its candidates in the federal constituency, having realised that its chances of winning the 2023 elections get slimmer by the day and petrified by my popularity and acceptability has now resorted to a fiendish plot to physically attack our party members, destroy our outdoor campaign facilities as well as deploy force and orchestrated violence in an attempt to destabilise our structure in the constituency.
“Although I was surprised with the degree of damages done by these miscreants, I refused to be rattled because the constituents are with me. I remain their best and preferred choice. It is imperative to restate that no degree of intimidation and harassment will dissuade me from carrying out my philanthropic gestures to the people of my constituency.
“The PDP candidates should endeavour to endear themselves to the good people of Ibarapa East/Ido Federal Constituency through humane and civilized manner as enshrined by the constitution, rather than resort to desperate tactics that threaten the lives and property of the constituents. As an apostle of politics without bitterness, who is determined to liberate my people, to the glory of God, I have not only given hope to the downtrodden but also corrected the almost eight-year wrongs made by the present occupant of the seat through our various intervention projects and programmes which have given a new lease of life to my esteemed constituents”, the statement concluded.
Oseni, therefore, called on the Oyo State Police Commissioner and other security agencies to act quickly and decisively to stop the brigandage of the PDP in the state.
