Desperation of Political Parties May Threaten Osun Governorship  Poll, Yiaga Africa Warns

Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo

Yiaga Africa has observed that the perceived desperation of contending political parties in the Osun State July 16 governorship election could threaten the integrity of the poll if care is not taken.

Speaking yesterday at a press conference on the preparation for the election, a board member of Yiaga Africa, Ezenwa Nwagwu, noted that the major political parties in the state have intensified their campaigns deploying both legal and illegal antics in an attempt to win the governorship race.

He emphasised that the state election is however beyond the contest for the office of the governor, as the political parties compete tough in a last-ditch effort to gain a strong impetus going into the crucial 2023 general election.

According to him, “With barely 10 days to the Osun State governorship election, the political and security atmosphere has remained tensely unpredictable with the security agency describing every local government area as a potential flashpoint.”

Nwagwu stressed that Yiaga Africa’s pre-election reports have revealed the activities of cultists and political thugs in some local government areas as capable of threatening the peaceful and credible conduct of the election if not contained.

He opined that in addition to this threat, there are also attempts by some political mercenaries to manipulate the process right from the pre-election stage.

Nwagwu posited that: “Despite the foregoing, the preparation for the Osun State governorship election has seen a religious implementation of the electoral timeline by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). As observed, the training of Ad hoc staff is ongoing, and the non-sensitive materials are deployed and catalogued in the INEC LGA offices.

“Also, the collection of the Permanent Voters’ Card (PVC) is currently happening at the INEC LGA offices, and voter education activities are being conducted by INEC and different stakeholders to ensure informed citizens’ participation. The commission also conducted a mock accreditation to access the BVAS in some LGAs ahead of the election.”

The board member equally pointed out that the pre-election environment has also been characterised by defections, alignment and realignment as part of an effort by political parties and candidates to gain political favour going into the election and with the 2023 polls in calculations.

Also, in her remarks, the Director of Programmes, Yiaga Africa, Cynthia Mbamalu noted that Yiaga Africa has been observing the Osun State pre-election environment since April 2022.

She made it clear that Yiaga Africa’s WTV specifically trained and deployed 32 Long-Term Observers (LTO) to the 30 LGAs to observe the pre-election environment until July 14, 2023. So far, three pre-election observation reports have been issued and two more reports will be issued before the election.

“Yiaga Africa is also concerned about the uncouth and unguarded utterances by some political actors in the state in their efforts to woo voters. There is no doubt that these desperate utterances by major actors going into the election demonstrate a lack of caution and sportsmanship,” she said.

The Yiaga director, however, called on these actors, especially the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to exercise restraint, and advise their supporters to play by the rules.