A group, the Osun Masterminds, has urged politicians vying for elective positions ahead of the 2023 elections to avoid any resort to rigging, AMILOADED reports.
The Osun Masterminds said this in its monthly address, a copy of which was made available to AMILOADED on Thursday night.
The group, in a statement signed by its Executive Director, Dr. Wasiu Oyedokun-Alli, said it took a particular notice of “accusations and counter-accusations of rigging coming from most of the parties that will be participating in the governorship election against one another.”
The Osun Masterminds noted that “one of them has gone as far as constituting an anti-rigging committee, which it claims will help it ensure the election is not rigged in favour of another.”
It added, “We say that these self-help measures are good, as long as they are not decoys for perpetration of electoral crimes under the guise of preventing rigging.
“Violence, voter intimidation and propaganda are suspected to be tools with which some politicians are presently scheming to win the upcoming election. These are against the spirit of a proper democratic process that is pro-people.
“We urge politicians and candidates to avoid any resort to these anti-people tools before, during and after the election.
“We urge present political actors in the state do away with any thoughts of rigging of any kind.”
The group, while speaking on intra-party crisis, said, “We must not forget to mention that we are aware of the existence of a certain audio record of one of the senatorial aspirants in the state who was recorded threatening violence against another political camp within the same political party.
“We refuse to wave those threats off as mere word of mouth, knowing the implications that violence could have to the peace and security of the state.”
It further stated that violence against members of the same political party also “leaves us wondering how much violence politicians may be planning to unleash on members of opposition parties in the coming election.”
It, therefore, condemned “any plans by any politician to unleash violence on any person in the State”, calling on security agencies to ‘rise to the occasion and apprehend every person seen acting in a manner that may instigate violence or cause it to happen”.
Speaking on security in Osun State, the Osun Masterminds said the activities of some police officers in the state at the moment are inimical to the maintenance of law, order and peaceful coexistence in the state.
The group stated that it was aware of several cases of “extra-judicial killing in the state and the seeming inability of the top echelon of the police in Osun to call its errant men to order”.
“We condemn all of these entirely and demand that if the state government sees that it has become impossible for it to work with the present top echelon of the police in the state, it must as a matter of urgency, request the redeployment of the present Commissioner of Police.
“Osun Masterminds is again aware of the present toxic nature of the social media space in the State as politician and political parties are unleashing uncouth young men and ladies on perceived opponents, to blackmail, denigrate and demonize them.
“We state unequivocally that this trend is destructive to the future of the young people who are deployed to do these dirty jobs. We therefore appeal to politicians to kindly rein in their underlings who are known to presently be involved in actions like these,” the group said.
It further enjoined the people of Osun State to “sift the campaign messages they have been listening to, find that which indeed speaks to the development needs of our state and give massive support to that candidate who delivered the most practical message.”
“It must be said that Osun has grown beyond the use of payment of salaries as campaign message and the people of the state must be wary of such politicians who deliver such outdated messages.
“Salaries and allowances of civil servants being rightfully theirs, the present government is respecting this right and paying the State’s workers as and when due.
“This is minimum standard and does not require any campaign promise to do. Any person aspiring to the office of governor of the state who campaigns with payment of salaries, for example, must therefore be seen as not just juvenile, but also lacking in brilliant ideas to move the state forward.
“Our development discussion must presently be based on ideas that will transform Osun into an economically sustainable state that will create opportunities for the dexterity of our youths and the social needs of every class of society.
“Such developmental ideas need be communicated by every candidate before we can consider them worthy of support. Governance has evolved way beyond tomfoolery, abusive songs and theatrical performances in the name of campaigns.
“We must listen attentively to all of the candidates and based on their ideas, we adjudge them ready for governance or not,” the Osun Masterminds stated.
The group, therefore, urged all political parties participating in the forthcoming election in Osun State to, as a matter of importance, educate their members on the subsisting electoral law, to avoid “ignorant propaganda” during and after the election.
“We say this with the understanding that propaganda has the potency to cause unrest and must therefore be avoided. We understand that INEC will be conducting all future elections based on the present Electoral Law and we therefore urge every political player to get informed on its provisions.
“On party primaries coming up especially in the month of May, we urge all political parties to not only ensure that all aspirants enjoy a level playing field, but are also discouraged from any acts of violence. Our democracy has indeed grown beyond thuggery, hooliganism and threats of violence,” the group noted.
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