Politics in Osun State is trailing the footsteps of Ekiti to raise tension and apprehension over the governorship ballot on Saturday, August 9, a contest squarely between the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has released a list of 20 contending political parties, but the two front runners are Governor Rauf Aregbesola (APC) and Senator Iyiola Omisore (PDP).
The PDP is optimistic about repeating the surprise in Ekiti on June 21 where its candidate, Ayo Fayose, beat Governor Kayode Fayemi of the APC.
As happened in the run up to the Ekiti vote, security agents have taken over Osun to forestall trouble, although those outside the PDP camp suspect it is a display of federal might to intimidate and prepare the ground for rigging.
Aregbesola and Omisore have been trading blames more than trying to convince voters of their competence to launch Osun into the industrial sphere of Lagos, the richest state in internally generated revenue (IGR), and its financially rising neighbour, Ogun.
APC Director of Publicity (Research and Strategy), Kunle Oyatomi, decried the heavy presence of security in Osun, but calmed frayed nerves.
He urged residents to go about their businesses and ignore the presence of security operatives.
Oyatomi added, however, that “a country in which security operatives are doing what we are experiencing in Osun calls for the gravest concern.
“Instead of pursuing and fighting Boko Haram, what we are seeing are our own security officers who should be protecting us have chosen to frighten us. We are sad that evidence of the banana republic is slowly but evidently creeping in.
“If this is how the PDP intends to win election in Osun, God help Nigeria.”
Omisore’s Media Assistant, Victor Oriola, countered that the security personnel are not harassing anyone.
“Anybody that is scared of the security agents must have something to hide because they are not harassing anybody,” he told TheNiche.
Oriola added that the presence of heavy security is partly to prevent rigging.
Omisore Campaign Group spokesman, Diran Odeyemi, said “we are fully prepared. We are looking forward to emerging victorious. We have campaigned across the state.”
The Department of State Security (DSS) has reportedly deployed about 5,000 officers for the election in Osun, apart from other security agencies.
The APC complained about the level of security during the Ekiti election, as it is now doing in Osun.
But the poll in Ekiti was peaceful and people voted freely.