- Olusegun Osoba accused ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo of rigging him out in the 2003 election
- Osoba also accused the ex-president of rigging out other governors under the platform of Alliance for Democracy
Former governor of Ogun state, Olusegun Osoba, on Wednesday, May 30, claimed that he and four other governors of the South-west were allegedly ‘rigged’ out of power by former president Olusegun Obasanjo in 2003.
Osoba claimed that Obasanjo, while he was president, used the police to rig him and others out of power in 2003.
Osoba governed Ogun state between 1999 and 2003 under the platform of the Alliance for Democracy (AD). He was, however, voted out of office in 2003 when Gbenga Daniel of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, was declared winner of the governorship election.
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Other governors of the south-west under the platform of the AD also failed to win their re-election campaign. They included Lam Adesina of Oyo State; Bisi Akande of Osun, Premium Times reports.
Osoba claimed that the governors were rigged out because they disagreed with the federal government on the nation’s governance structure and other issues of power and resource control.
He said: “We were going to court to tackle issues of fiscal responsibilities on police. In my own case, I had Israel Ajao as my commissioner. On the eve of 2003 elections, Obasanjo knew he was going to write figures and Ajao was cooperative with me; letting me know where ‘Area boys’ can disrupt and other things… giving me security report.
“What Obasanjo did was that two days before the election he transferred him to Abuja, by road! He was sent to Abuja. I had to go and fight until he was brought back a day after the election. That’s to show you how a president can misuse (the police).”
Osoba also recalled how a former police chief, Musiliu Smith to allegedly pave way for the appointment of Tafa Balogun, whom he claimed helped Obasanjo rig elections.
He said: “I can recall the day he decided to sacked Musiliu Smith. He (Obasanjo) called a council of state meeting… he got there, told Smith to give us report and said he should excuse. The next thing was, Bola Tinubu said, ‘I hope you are not scape-goating, I hope you are not going to look for a scape-goat!’ Bola had a hint that he was going to do something about Smith and he was hollering in the council of state meeting.
“At the end of the day, he got what he wanted and put his own man, Tafa Balogun, who helped to rig the election for him.
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“That is the story of the democracy that we are having and that’s why you must not relent. So we were rigged out and the cases that we were running could not continue because his own men came to the council of state.”
NAIJ.com earlier reported that Ogun state governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, on Sunday, May 6, paid a visit to Aremo Olusegun Osoba, at his residence in Lagos state.
The former governor, who was speaking at his residence, while receiving the Ogun state governor, commended Amosun for working towards ending the differences that existed between factions of the party in the state.
Osoba attributed the success of the ward congresses held by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state on Saturday, May 5, to the unity and understanding that now exist among party faithful.
APC official tells why his party could be voted out in 2019 - on NAIJ.com TV
Source: Naija.ng