Ahead of Poll, Oyinlola, 10,000 Others Defect to APC in Osun

Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola

• Jonathan promises free and fair election

Jaiyeola Andrews and Yinka Kolawole

With less than five days to the governorship election in Osun State, the fortunes of the All Progressives Congress (APC) were significantly boosted yesterday when the embattled former governor of the state, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, formally defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and joined the ruling APC in the state.
Oyinlola, a former National Secretary of the PDP, over the weekend had granted media interviews indicating that he would soon leave the PDP.

He had also written to the presidency on his intention to defect to APC since the party had lost confidence in his leadership.
The former governor had served as the national secretary of the ruling party until a court ruled that he was not properly elected, forcing him to step down.

Shortly after his removal by the court, a crisis soon broke out in the party leading him to join a faction that described itself as the “New PDP”.

Even when the Appeal Court ordered his reinstatement as the national secretary of the party, PDP ignored the court order and suspended him, citing anti-party activities.

Reacting to his defection to APC yesterday, the Osun State Secretary of the party, Prince Gboyega Famodun, said Oyinlola’s defection was a big plus not only to the party, but for the people of the state.
Alongside Oyinlola were over 10,000 followers from all the 30 local government areas of the state, including the area office, Modakeke.

Confirming Oyinlola’s plan and that of his followers to join APC, a strong supporter of the former governor, Hon. Teslim Igbalaye, said: “His boss will defect this morning (today) to APC because some of his followers equally defected about two weeks ago.”

Meanwhile, in a bid to ensure an orderly election on Saturday, the acting Inspector General of Police (IG), Mr. Suleiman Abbas, has warned those wanting to foment trouble during the poll to stay away from the state as he would unleash the long arm of the law on anyone planning to cause mayhem during the poll.

Abbas, who yesterday read the riot act to troublemakers to steer clear of the state or risk meeting their waterloo, said perpetrators of trouble would be seriously dealt with in accordance with the law.
The acting IG stated this when he spoke to State House correspondents after a consultative meeting with Vice-President Namadi Sambo.

He also vowed to rid the country of crimes.
On the operational order left by his predecessor on the Osun election, Abba said: “I went through it quickly and made a number of adjustments which included the fact that we need to be there early enough, so I adjusted the time that officers were directed to report.

“I made sure that by Saturday, they were already there. And the aim is that if anyone is training anybody to cause violence, we are telling him that we would make sure the law takes its course. In fact, my advice is this: if you don't have any business to do with Osun elections, just don't go there because the law will catch up with you. This is my advice.”

On the war against terrorism, he said: “I must tell you, I would like to categorise all of them whether insurgency or kidnapping or armed robbery, all of them are violent crimes and the first thing we are going to do is to make every effort to ensure that it does not continue to spread. And these strategies will come into place before the end of the week, I assure you.”

Similarly, President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday in Washington DC said it was no longer feasible for politicians to manipulate elections in Nigeria, pledging to conduct free and fair elections in Osun on Saturday.
He equally stated that the days when a few politicians, acting in concert with their hirelings and thugs, hijacked voters’ cards and other electoral materials, and manipulated the outcome of elections to their personal advantage were gone forever in Nigeria.

The president spoke at a meeting with Nigerian professionals in the United States, according to a statement by his spokesman, Dr. Reuben Abati.

In the statement, Jonathan said he remained fully committed to keeping the promise he made in 2011 that he would do everything possible to ensure that the elections in Nigeria become very free, fair and credible.
The president assured the gathering that in keeping with that pledge which had been fulfilled in recent elections in Edo, Ondo and Ekiti States, the federal government would take all necessary steps to ensure that no individual, group or political party is able to thwart the legitimate choice of genuine voters in Saturday's governorship election in Osun State.

“The issue of credible elections must be institutionalised in Nigeria. Our electoral processes were not very good or credible when we came into office, but as I promised, we have been working very hard to change things and ensure that our elections are more credible, that every legitimate vote counts and that results are acceptable to the electorate.

“I promise you that the Osun governorship election will be very free, fair and credible,” Jonathan told the gathering while responding to questions and comments on topical issues in Nigeria.
Responding to other concerns raised by the Nigerian professionals, the president said the federal government would continue to give the highest possible priority to policies and programmes that will lead to the creation of enough jobs for Nigerian youths.

“Job creation is a challenge to every government in the world. We are doing all that we can to tackle the problem in Nigeria because we know that we have a very young population and if we do not create enough jobs to meet their needs, the country will be in trouble,” Jonathan said.
The statement added that the president also spoke of his administration’s efforts to improve standards and access to educational institutions in Nigeria, address the national housing deficit and further empower women.
He thanked Nigerian professionals abroad for their patriotic support for his government and urged them to continue to show love and concern for the well being of their fatherland.

“We expect you to continue to add more value to what we are doing and we will continue to engage your services and expertise when we can, because if we do not, the valuable education and skills you have acquired will be of no benefit to the development of our country,” the president said.

He later received and commended young Nigerians who are participating in the Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders, a leadership programme sponsored by the United States government to train young African professionals in American universities, government departments and the private sector.
Of the 500 places in the programme, 45 were won by young Nigerians in a competitive selection process.