Achile Danjuma
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has raised serious concerns over what it describes as credible reports of a planned arrest of its National Secretary, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, in the days leading up to Saturday’s governorship election in Osun State.
In a press statement signed by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC warned that arresting the former Osun State governor and former Minister of the Interior on the eve of the poll would be widely seen as a deliberate attempt to disrupt the party’s election activities.
The party said it had received credible reports of the alleged plan but noted that it could not dismiss them, given what it termed a growing pattern of intimidation, harassment and misuse of state institutions against the opposition by the current administration.
“If any security agency has a lawful reason to invite him, there are established procedures for doing so,” the statement read. “An arrest on the eve of an election in which his party is participating would invite only one reasonable conclusion: that the purpose is to prevent him from leading and coordinating the party’s election activities”.
The ADC put the Federal Government and security agencies on notice, saying Nigerians are closely watching events in Osun State.
“Whatever happens before, during and after Saturday’s election will be judged not by the explanations offered afterwards, but by the actions taken now,” the party said.
The opposition party further cautioned the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government against any action that could trigger political instability in the state. “The APC Federal Government must be wary of doing anything that could plunge Osun State into needless crisis. Nigeria is still a democracy, and the government would do well to remember that before Saturday,” the ADC added.
The ADC is one of 15 political parties participating in Saturday’s Osun State governorship election, which also features incumbent Governor Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party and APC candidate Bola Oyebamiji as leading contenders. The party has previously stated that it will not enter into any alliance with other parties for the poll.