Atiku: Osun voters should be vigilant
Achieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and a former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has urged the people of Osun particularly those who voted election in the state to stand firm and guard their votes jealously. terse press statement personally signed by the former Vice President last night noted that with the early results coming out of the election, “citizens of Osun should not lose the moment to happy mood, but must remain vigilant until victory is total in the election.”
“I see results coming in from Osun Polling Units in line with INEC directives,” the former Vice President said and urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) “to ensure that the will of the people is not subverted” in order to restore confidence to the electoral and democratic process.
According to the former Vice President, “no matter who wins in Osun, the will of the people is sacrosanct and must be respected.”
The former Vice President had in a statement issued in the early hours of yesterday called for neutrality and professionalism of security agents monitoring the election.
The statement from his media office in Abuja was issued following widespread reports that soldiers and officials of the Department of State Security (DSS) randomly continued to chase down and arrest APC leaders and members across the state.
He said with voting in the governorship election in Osun State barely commencing and security operatives randomly arresting leaders of the APC in the state, there was cause for concern for the election to be free and fair.
Atiku noted that the use of the military for the purpose of election was an anathema to the very spirit of electioneering politics, because the rules of engagement of the military violated the principles of fundamental human rights which gave the people the power of franchise.
The former Vice President, therefore, called on the relevant authorities behind the deployment of troops for the governorship election in Osun State to give instructions to the soldiers and state security agents on the imperative of limited and minimal engagement associated with the nature of their assignment, as the mood of terror being reported to have been created in the state was capable of distorting the expected free and fair outcome of the election.