Fear stops Omisore, LP candidate from facing Aregbesola in live debate

Governorship candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party and the Labour Party in Osun State, Senator Iyiola Omisore and Alhaji Fatai Akinbade respectively on Saturday shunned a radio debate organised for them and Governor Rauf Aregbesola.

Aregbesola – osun debate

The debate which was organised by a United States of America-based International Republican Institute was billed to be broadcast live on Osun State Broadcasting Corporation Osogbo on Saturday.

Aregbesola, who was said to have gone to Mecca for the lesser hajj was said to have cut short his trip and returned to honour the debate but his co-debaters failed to show up.

The Director of Publicity, Research and Strategy of the All Progressives Congress in the state, Mr. Kunle Oyatomi, in a statement said Omisore ran away from the debate.

The statement read, “ The PDP’s gubernatorial candidate in the August 9 election in Osun, Iyiola Omisore, squandered a golden opportunity to confront the incumbent governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, in a public radio debate when he ran away from participating.

“The debate was sponsored by the American-based International Republican Institute and put together by the Osun State Broadcasting Corporation for a live transmission in Osogbo. Saturday.

“Osun citizens had waited with bated breath to hear Omisore articulate his accusations against the governor on such issues as the debt profile of the state, the school reform programme and the vexed issue of capital flight.

“But it turned out to be almost an interview and not a debate because Omisore ran away.

“However, Aregbesola advanced his arguments virtually without challenge that the best thing to have happened in Osun since it was created are his programmes which the PDP wants to destroy.”

Omisore had earlier said that he was ready for a debate with Aregbesola but he expressed the fear that the governor might physically assault him.

The media aide of the LP candidate, Mr. Kayode Oladeji, when contacted said that his principal did not shun the debate because he sent his running mate to represent him at the debate.

Oladeji said the LP candidate had a very urgent and equally important assignment he was attending to hence the decision to send his running mate.

He said, “Alhaji Akinbade still sent his running mate, Mr. Michael Adenipekun,to go and represent him.

“He got there but they said that they would not accept any representative so, it is not right to say Akinbade shunned the debate, you cannot divorce the office of the governor from the deputy cause they are running on a joint ticket.”

Omisore had earlier said he was ready for a debate with Aregbesola but he expressed the fear that the governor might physically assault him.

Omisore said, “How can I be afraid of engaging him in a debate? But when argument is being drawn between two unequal parties, the weaker of the two may result to physical assault and harassment. We don’t want this to happen.

“Aregbesola has not hidden the fact that he has personal hatred for me and people tell me all sorts of lies he fabricates to disparage me. You don’t expect more than that from a barely literate politician like him.

You remember that Aregbesola presented O’level to INEC. So we need an assurance that Ogbeni will not resort to physical assault if he is confronted with hard facts with evidence.

“ Once we are assured that decorum would be allowed and that our safety is guaranteed, I am ready for the debate.”

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Fear stops Omisore, LP candidate from facing Aregbesola in live debate

APC takes concrete actions to ensure free, fair election in Osun State

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has taken concrete actions to ensure that all the candidates in the Aug. 9th 2014 governorship election in Osun State are provided with a level playing field and that the election is free, fair, transparent and devoid of harassment and intimidation.

In a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said it had challenged in court the powers of the President to deploy troops to Osun State for the election and the power of the Inspector-General of Police to impose a curfew on any part of the state during the election.

It also said the party had written to INEC to demand a postponement of the election if the electoral commission cannot guarantee that all registered voters will be given their Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) before voting day or in the alternative allow all registered members in possession of INEC temporary voters card to cast their votes in the election.

APC said the actions are aimed at avoiding a repeat of the massive harassment, intimidation and arrest of opposition politicians witnessed during the Ekiti governorship election, and to prevent any illegal lock down of Osun State, which turned out to be a ploy to pigeon-hole opposition politicians while allowing PDP members to move around freely during the Ekiti polls.

The party said the letter to INEC followed concerns expressed by APC members in Osun that they have so far been denied their PVCs under shady circumstances, a development that could be a ploy to massively disenfranchise APC members and rig the election at source

”In the first case filed at the Federal High Court in Lagos on July 15th 2014, we are seeking, among others, ‘a declaration that by the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as altered), it is ultra vires for the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to deploy members of the armed forces to Osun state for the purpose of the conduct of the gubernatorial election scheduled for Aug. 9th 2014′.

”In the second case, also filed at the same court on July 17th 2014, we are seeking, among other reliefs, ‘a declaration that by the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as altered), and the Curfew Law of Osun State, CAP 36, Laws of Osun State of Nigeria, 2001, it is ultra vires for the Inspector General of Police of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to impose curfew on any part of Osun State during the conduct of the gubernatorial election scheduled to hold on Aug. 9th, 2014, or at any time whatsoever in any part of Nigeria’.

”The actions have reinforced the credentials of our party as law abiding and peaceful. Instead of resorting to self help, as many would have done in the face of the many underhand tactics by the PDP-led federal government to stifle the opposition and skew the conditions in favour of the ruling party, we decided to embark on a legal challenge of the unlawful actions of the government.

”We are not seeking any favour beyond that all candidates in the election be allowed to have a level playing field, for all registered voters to be able to cast their votes in an atmosphere devoid of violence, harassment and intimidation, and for the election itself to be conducted in substantial compliance with the law,” it said.

APC said popular participation is at the core of democratic governance, hence a development in which registered voters, most of them from the opposition, will not be allowed to vote based on the incompetence of the electoral authorities is anti-democratic.

”That is why we have written to INEC to allow duly registered voters to exercise their franchise on Aug. 9th, whether or not they have PVCs or temporary voters cards. If this is not possible, INEC should consider postponing the election until such a time that not one voter will be disenfranchised due to the incompetence, collusion or shenanigans of INEC,” the party said.

It warned that the Osun governorship election must not just be free, fair and transparent, it must been seen to be so by all stakeholders.

APC takes concrete actions to ensure free, fair election in Osun State