The Governor of Osun State and the winner of Saturday’s governorship election, Rauf Aregbesola, has described his victory for a second term in office, as a reward for hard work, focus and determination.
In his victory speech, Governor Aregbesola, however, bemoaned the huge presence of military in the state during the election, saying it created an unnecessarily tense, tortuous and even traumatic process.
“I am humbled and honoured by your trust and abiding faith in me and my party. I pledge that your confidence in us shall never be betrayed or taken for granted.
“Ordinarily, this should be a moment of joy and celebration consequent upon the hard earned triumph of the people’s will. However, this election shows that democracy is still gravely endangered in Nigeria.
“We witnessed gross abuse of power and of due process before, during and even after the actual voting process.
“It is so sad and unfortunate that what should be a normal, routine process was maliciously allowed to snowball into a needless virtual war by the Federal Government and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
“Osun state was unduly militarised in an unprecedented manner through criminal intimidation and psychological assault on our people. This election witnessed an abuse of our security agencies and amounted to a corruption of their professional ethics and integrity.
“Our victory is due to the steadfastness and resolute determination of our people to assert and defend their rights,” he said, in a speech that hugely criticised the presence of military personnel in the state.
Deliberate Tyranny
The re-elected governor accused the PDP of trying “all it could in a most desperate manner to steal the people’s mandate”.
According to him, a critical analysis of the elections showed a trend of general low voter turnout largely because of the atmosphere of deliberate tyranny and fear caused by the excessive militarisation of the state.
He further stressed that the outcome of the election showed the unswerving determination of the people to ensure that democracy triumphs in Nigeria.
“We have sent a strong signal to all and sundry that no might is powerful enough to thwart the will of the people.
“This should always strengthen our resolve to ensure that as from now on, every vote must not only be counted but must count in this country.
“Nobody or party must ever exercise power unreasonably at any level except in accordance with the will of the people to whom sovereignty belongs,” he said, apparently referring to the PDP.
Governor Aregbesola assured the indigenes of the state that his administration was committed to working with all well meaning people of the State and the generality of Nigerians in an effort “to transform Osun into a land of progress, prosperity and peace for all with renewed fervour”.
