Guber Poll: Osun Will Be Well-Policed, Says Jonathan As He Dares Political Thugs To Attempt To Disrupt Process

President Goodluck Jonathan on Saturday assured the people of Osun State that the August 9 governorship election would be peaceful.

Speaking tough, the president also dared those parading themselves as political thugs to attempt to disrupt the election and risk being dealt with by security operatives, who he insisted, would be deployed in the state for the election.

The president, who said this at the Peoples Democratic Party governorship campaign grand finale in Osogbo City Stadium, added that despite protests by some parties, he would make sure that Osun State was ‘well-policed’ during the election.

Jonathan, who walked round the pitch, alongside other PDP leaders, waving at a mammoth crowd of supporters, who had filled the about 30, 000-capacity stadium before his arrival, also restated his commitment to making sure that the votes of Nigerians count.

He said, “Some parties are even going to court saying that on the election day all the security operatives should be removed. We will recall that during the 2011 election, 10 youth corps members were killed. We will not allow that to happen again. So anybody to think that government would fold its hands and allow miscreants to take over the streets of Osun State, and cause havoc, that person is deceiving himself. We will make sure that Osun State is properly policed.

“Anybody who calls himself a thug or militant whatever name you call yourself, if you find himself in Osun State that day, be rest assured that the security operatives will deal with you according to law. Because we must show the world that we are capable of governing ourselves and that we are able to elect who will rule us.

“Our votes must count. One man one vote; one woman on vote; one youth one vote”, Mr. Jonathan said.

The president added that the Federal Government needed maximum cooperation from the Osun State Government to bring development to every part of the state and boasted that the PDP was the only party in Nigeria that had the credentials of a democratic party.

“Omisore and the government at the centre will work together to develop Osun State. All we need from you is your votes. We need you to elect Omisore on August 9. Bring Omisore to us as your governor and leave the rest for us”, he said.

The President, who had earlier congratulated Vice-President Namadi Sambo on his birthday which coincided with the rally, urged the people of Osun to ensure that PDP wins the governorship poll next weekend as a birthday gift to Sambo, who he called ‘my younger brother’.

To further express his assurance that the PDP would win the election, Jonathan referred to Omisore and his running mate, Adejare Bello, as governor and deputy governor-in-waiting respectively.

Sambo had said the mammoth crowd that received them in Osogbo was a sign that “the people of Osun State are ready to take back their mandate” just as he described the rainfall that ushered them to the state as a sign of divine endorsement.

Also speaking at the rally, the National Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, said the PDP had patiently waited for the Osun election, saying it’s an opportunity for the party to take back its mandate that was taken away through the court.

Chairman of the PDP Governors Forum and Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Godswill Akpabio, who boasted that he predicted Ayodele Fayose’s victory in Ekiti State two months ago and that there would be no litigation to his emergence as governor-elect, re-assured the people that the PDPGF has assembled a team of Senior Advocates of Nigeria to defend their votes in court should the need arise.

Prominent among chieftains of the party at the campaign were the vice president, Nnamadi Sambo; deputy speaker, House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha; PDP national chairman Ahmed Adamu Muazu; chairman of BoT Chief Tony Anenih; chairman, Godswill Akpabio, and a number of his colleagues; Chief Bode George; Femi Fani-Kayode, ex-Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole; Ayodele Fayose; Otunba Alao-Akala, Chief Buruji Kazamu, and a former deputy governor of Osun, Erelu Olusola Obada.