Oyetola’s Campaign Council urges EFCC to investigate Adeleke, PDP over voter inducement comment
By Deborah Oladejo, Osogbo
The Campaign Council of the Osun State governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ademola Adeleke, over his comment that he will induce voters before and during the July 16th governorship election in the state.
Addressing a press conference, at the Ilerioluwa Campaign Office, Director General of the Osun APC Campaign Council, Senator Ajibola Basiru said it is pertinent to draw the attention of the anti-graft agency to the unguarded comment in order to challenge Adeleke and his party, the PDP, to explain what he meant by his comments that he had arrived with hard currencies to prosecute the election and to approach the election “fire for fire.”
Basiru argued that for an individual to have declared publicly to financially induce electorate, he needed to be investigated and prosecuted by the anti-graft body to stop him from compromising the electoral process and fledgling democracy.
He called on the EFCC and other anti-graft agencies to beam their search light on the matter and summon the PDP candidate in the state for a thorough investigation and questioning to unravel what he meant that he has brought pounds, dollars, euros and other hard currencies to buy vote.
He said: “I expected the EFCC to have invited Senator Ademola Adeleke to give account of what he meant by coming to the state with hard currencies for the Osun State guber election.
“Certainly, inducement of voters is a great offence. So, for Senator Adeleke to manifestly declare an intention to induce voters, it warrants criminal investigation by EFCC.
“EFCC should summon him for investigation for questioning by what he meant that he has brought pounds, dollars, euros and other hard currencies to buy vote.
“That clearly is a manifest intention to commit the offence of inducement of voters which is clearly an electoral offence under the Nigerian law.”
The council team warned the PDP and its candidate to desist from the campaign of acrimony that had degenerated into violent attack on the members and loyalists of the ruling party since Adeleke publicly declared his readiness to engage in fire-for-fire approach.
Basiru recalled some of the violent attacks on the party’s loyalists, saying it has become imperative to intimate the general public with the clandestine move by the opposition party to kill, maim and harass leading figures in the Osun government and APC using political thugs, and then turn round to accuse the APC, its government and sympathisers as the brain behind the wicked act.
Basiru reiterated the commitment of Governor Oyetola to continue to maintain peace and sustain the status of Osun as the most peaceful State in Nigeria regardless of any form of security threat from any quarter.
“For the avoidance of doubt, our candidate does not believe in violence and you journalists seated here this evening can attest to that fact,” he added.
