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From Lateef Dada, Osogbo
Yiaga Africa has expressed fear that the July 16 governorship election in Osun State may be undermined by the utterances of political parties, vote-buying and thuggery activities.
The Director of Programme, Yiaga Africa, Cynthia Mbamalu, disclosed this in Osogbo on Wednesday during a press conference on the pre-election observation jointly addressed with a board member, Ezenwa Nwagu.
According to Yiaga Africa, the political and security atmosphere has remained tensely unpredictable with the security agency describing every Local Government Area as a potential flashpoint.
“Yiaga Africa’s pre-election reports have revealed the activities of cultists and political thugs in some local government areas (LGA) as capable of threatening the peaceful and credible conduct of the election, if not contained. In addition to this threat, there are also attempts by some political mercenaries to manipulate the process right from the pre-election stage.
“Political Thuggery and Activities of Cultists: the recent escalation in the activities of political thugs and cultists in Osun State remains a potential threat to the peaceful conduct of the election. Activities of thugs and cultist groups range from disruption of PVC Collection in LGAs and violent clashes which have threatened the peace in the locations affected.
“While Yiaga Africa commends the recent arrest of some political thugs by the police, there is an urgent need for more intelligence to be deployed in addressing these rising threats to ensure more arrests and prosecution of culprits.
“Yiaga Africa is also concerned about the uncouth and unguarded utterances by some political actors in the state in their efforts to woo voters. There is no doubt that these desperate utterances by major actors going into the election demonstrate a lack of caution and sportsmanship. This is capable of not just intimidating prospective voters but also inflaming the political environment, if not checked,” it added.
