By 
By Abiodun OBA
…Demands relocation of Ogun election tribunal
Segun Sowunmi, a chieftain of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in Ogun, has called on the state Governor Dapo Abiodun to call his people to order.
Sowunmi spoke to journalists in his house after he was attacked at the gate of the premises which housed the tribunal in Isabo area of Abeokuta on Monday by thugs allegedly loyal to the All Progressives Congress, APC.
The PDP Chieftain further demanded the relocation of the state governorship election tribunal to Abuja for security reasons.
According to him, relocation is necessary because Ogun State is no longer safe for political parties that had filed petition against Governor Dapo Abiodun and his Party APC.
He said he was at the tribunal to witness the commencement of the hearing of the petition of Oladipupo Adebutu and his PDP against the victory of Governor Dapo Abiodun and APC in the March 18 election.
“The worst thing that can happen to an election thief now in bare face is to encourage thuggery and rubbish behaviour.
“I have played politics in Ogun State since 1999, by one incident in 2007, I don’t have any recollection of any time in the history of our State where brigandage, misbehaviour, thuggery, criminality, marauders and murderers have been elevated to the directive principles of the State power like has happened underneath the government of Dapo Abiodun, the manner that say the select governor of Ogun State because he couldn’t have won an election that is still very much being contested.
“Today was the beginning, the opening of the Tribunal and obviously a lot of people will go there. It is usual for leaders of political parties like us to show face so we can just show solidarity not like we are leaving all our followers to do all the hard work while we sit in the comfort of our air-conditioned room. And in my habit, I don’t move around with things or miscreants.
“I alighted a reasonable distance from the courthouse because I know that parking will be a problem and I proceeded to walk, as I moved towards the environment, I had seen the type of terrible characters that indecent society they should be in prison, milling around and driving all over the place, some of them are fairly known operators who play around their parks and garages.
“I approached the court gate, and it was locked, and I realised that there was no room in the court anymore and I simply turned back and as I make my way to leave, a herd of murderers descended, trying to bring out cudgels, whips and guns and they were generally misbehaving.
“Luckily, a security vehicle was not too far off, and I entered into the security vehicle to make my way to leave as typical of the kinds of nonsense that have become of Ogun under Dapo Abiodun, one of them snatched my glasses and ran away with it.
“What I will just want to say, firstly to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is that we have transferred power from one civilian administration to the other since 1999, not even under Muhammadu Buhari has brigandage been tolerated to the level that we are beginning to see it now. If they are not attacking out people in Kogi, they are attacking us in Imo, if they are not attacking us in Imo, they are attacking us in Abeokuta.
“It wasn’t easy to explain an attack until I felt it physically, to ask myself that how did this type of madness happen here?
“Unfortunately, I saw the police standing by helpless as though they don’t even understand that they have the responsibility to keep the peace. I kept asking myself, how could they have been watching hold gun, sticks and shouting, “Dapo Abiodun sent us!”
“I was asking myself “when did Ogun State become a place where Governor send thugs for the opening day of the Tribunal?”
“The first evidence of this type of behaviour we saw from this Governor was the show of shame that took place in Ijebu in the entire Ogun East axis where you saw operatives riding Okada, just misbehaving.
“How does it become fashionable for you to mobilise miscreants to the Tribunal?
“Our position is that the President of the court of appeal in his wisdom should please relocate Ogun State Election Tribunal from Abeokuta because it is no longer safe, so that we can go and have that Tribunal in the peaceful atmosphere of Abuja, and everybody can have the case adjudicated and we can deal with the outcome of the court cases.
“The second thing is that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should put a leash on Dapo Abiodun before he gets us to implode this State for him. For how long are you going to be pushing us back before we react? It is democracy and we have the right to stand for election, to expect that the election will be free and fair, to go through the process of Tribunal, to go to court when our cases are being called without being attacked.
“We have been putting in a lot of work to beg our people not to resort to reprisal.
“Governor Dapo Abiodun, call your people to order! This is totally unacceptable, this is not the Ogun State we know, this is not the Ogun State we have lived in, this is not the Ogun State of our future. Go and find out who and who are responsible, they have done it in your name, and you have a duty and responsibility to call them to order and make sure that we can live, we can sleep here, and we can be safe here.
“It is a very ugly day of shame; it is a day that nobody in his right senses who is a true born of Ogun State will be proud of this.
“Some of my followers are in the hospital as we speak attending to their injury. Luckily, I was able to get away from the place, but it was not without its own scars.
“What would have happened if I had mobilised thugs there, what would have happened if I had told our supporters that they should engage them in a fight, what would have happened if it had gotten out of hand? Do we need to make a bloodbath in Ogun State just because Dapo Abiodun has lost an election and he is struggling very hard to justify his stolen mandate?”
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