NEWS RELEASE
The former Caretaker Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun state, Dr. Akindele Adekunle has uncovered a sinister plot to use hoodlums clothed in Police uniforms to thwart the conduct of local governments' election in the state on Saturday.
Dr Akindele who based his alarm on a credible intelligence, said that hoodlums imported into Osun state from other states will hide under the cover of the tactic force deployed to the state by the Police headquarters in Abuja, to unleash mayhem on harmless voters and PDP leaders to frustrate the successful conduct of election on Saturday.
He noted that the hoodlums who are already camped in locations provided by top All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftains in Iragbiji, Ikire, Osogbo, Ila, Iwo, Ilesa and Ile-Ife among others, will attempt to prevent the election from holding on Saturday by going after PDP leaders and electoral officials, saying clear indication points to the fact that the tactic force deployed from Abuja was not to maintain peace but provide cover for the APC to unleash mayhem in Osun state.
"Credible intelligence at our disposal point to the fact that hoodlums brought into Osun state are being clothed in Police uniform to perpetrate violence on the people in a bid to stop the local governments election billed for Saturday," he noted in a statement issued on Thursday.
"It is quite disturbing to note that the Police are aiding this brazen threat to peace and safety of Osun people, because we learnt that the tactical squad deployed from Abuja is just a cover for the thugs to unleash violence without check.
"Police Force, as an institution, is constitutionally tasked with peace and security but it appears the current IGP has reduced the institution to doing hatchet job of desperate politicians as we are currently witnessing in Osun state. These fake police are being housed in different locations provided by APC chieftains, and the Police are providing them cover to unleash violence.
"We are very much aware that a list of PDP leaders and members had been drafted for indiscriminate arrest or assassinations. Electoral officials may also be targeted in the desperate plot to stop the election from holding on Saturday.
"So, we want to let the whole world know that should anything untoward happen in Osun state, they know who to hold responsible. Voting is a fundamental rights conferred on those eligible by the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and so, we are deeply at lost why the Police is adamant on supporting APC brazen assault on democracy by frustrating the conduct of the election.
"When the APC held its YES or NO election, which was later invalidated by the Courts, PDP didn't resort to violence or enlist the support of Police to disrupt it. It is rather a shame that the current Police leadership have clearly turned the institution into a partisan body, even to the point of aiding lawlessness of the ruling party.
"We want to remind voters in Osun state that voting is their rights in a democracy and they should not succumb to any threat, whether from the real Police or the fake ones getting support to unleash mayhem. So, they should come out and exercise their franchise on Saturday by electing their choices in administering governance at the local level."
Signed:
Dr Akindele Adekunle,
Former Caretaker Chairman, Osun PDP
20/02/2025
