APC wants Fayose’s deputy charged with election violence

The All Progressives Congress in Ekiti State has asked the Independent National Electoral Commission to charge the Deputy Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kolapo Olusola-Eleka, for election violence.

It also asked the Commission to cancel the election result in Ire-Ekiti over allegation of violence and ballot snatching.

The opposition party based the call on the reported shooting of an APC member, Jide Owolabi, in Ikere-Ekiti, on the alleged order of the deputy governor during Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly elections.

It was gathered that problem started when Eleka, who was moving around the polling units in Ikere Ekiti to monitor the accreditation process was accosted by aggrieved youths who saw his action as violating the electoral law.

It was reported that Owolabi was shot on his buttocks by one of the security operatives attached to the deputy governor during the ensued argument.

The APC Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatubosun, said in a statement on Sunday that the two incidents were well plotted as strategic plan by the Peoples Democratic Party to have undue advantage to win the ballot.

He said, “What happened in Ikere-Ekiti was a pre-meditated incident to cow the opposition to submission. We had earlier raised the alarm to the plan by top officials of Governor Ayodele Fayose’s administration to employ violence and intimidation to cow our members to enable them manipulate the electoral process.

“We wrote the security agencies, including both local and international human rights organs, about PDP’s plan. Yesterday incident was just a manifestation of the fears we raised.

The APC spokesman said the INEC and security agencies should investigate the incident while also asking the electoral body to charge the deputy governor for electoral violence.

Reacting, the Acting Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Joseph Adaraniwon, said the APC was chasing shadows by demanding prosecution of the deputy governor.

He said, “The Deputy Governor cannot be charged for any electoral violence because he did not carry any arms or attack anybody. Instead, it was the APC’s hired thugs that attacked the gentleman. The APC is only making excuses for its defeat in the whole 16 local government areas of the state.”