Biodun Sowunmi Wrote about Ekiti Election

I was in Ekiti State to monitor the election. One undisputed fact is that APC leaders in each town, local government areas, and the State executives were either arrested or driven underground by the security forces led by Musiliu Obanikoro, Minister of State for Defence and Adeshiyan, Minister of Police Affairs. Journalists and observers were harassed, arrested, and the Osun Broadcasting Corporation 4-man crew were deported to Ora a border town with Kwara State on the flimsy excuse that they conducted an interview with Chief Segun ONI in his Ifaki home. Many people who were not journalists were arrested in most hotels in Ado-Ekiti. Not one person has been paraded as a thug.


When I learnt of the storming of EMAX hotel Ado-Ekiti from a female reporter, I drove down to the hotel in the night and met soldiers harassing occupants of the hotel. 6 people were made to sit on bare floor. A man who claimed he visited the hotel to eat was taken away to identify his residence. No one in the hotel ever saw him again.

The Director-General of Kayode Fayemi Campaign Organisation, who is also a serving member of the House of Reps received visits from the joint task force made up of soldiers, SSS, and Mopol officers. He had escaped. But his father was not lucky. He was beaten. A Consumer Rights campaigner Sola Salako who was with the family had gun pointed at her head. She was ordered to identify the rooms in the house. The security officials occupied the house between 1am and 2.am. Even the Governor was not spared. He was more or less caged in his country home in Isan-Ekiti.

I along with other journalists witnessed an helicopter hovering over his home at least on 3 occassions. He was not allowed to drive to different towns to inspect voting. He was more or less stripped of his constitutional duty as the Chief Security Officer of Ekiti State. Obanikoro, Adeshiyan, and Chris Uba, assumed the role in the morning before Obanikoro allegedly flew to Lagos from Akure airport to attend other functions.

Mission accomplished, Consequently, most APC leaders tasked with the responsibility to direct their officials, reports situations at the polling units, and monitor the conduct of the election were underground as they risk arrest. Many harrased journalists and observers simply restricted their activities to the State capital neighboring towns. If the electorates made free choice, if the heavy militarization brought peace, what about fairness? Wasit fair to drive the opposition leaders to monitor elections underground? Wasit fair to arrest them and gift PDP? Was it fair to allow open bribing of electorates with N5,000?