Kwara:The Offa battleground

Offa, the hotbed of political opposition in
Kwara State is again manifesting itself
following the release of local government
election results which the opposition
claims were rigged.
The sight of the “winner” of an election
denouncing the results proclaiming him a
councillor in Offa Local government area
of Kwara State could not have been
anything but bewildering.
“I did not win that election. In all the eight
polling units, APC won convincingly, we
didn’t win. I’m a loyal member of the
PDP, but first and foremost I’m a Muslim
and as a person I won’t allow anyone to
take what belongs to me neither will I take
what belongs to another person,” Mr.
Jimoh Olawole, who claimed to be
candidate of the Peoples Democratic
Party, PDP in the Shao South West Ward
councillorship election in Offa declared.
His denunciation was about one of the
highlights of the rerun election in Offa
Local government area which held last
weekend. It was an election of ego of
sorts.
Offa has until now sustained its legacy of
opposition to the ruling class in Illorin. It
was as such not surprising that when the
PDP successfully caused the annulment
of the earlier election won by the ACN that
eyes turned on how the party would fare
in the area.
Indeed, the ancient town of Offa, has
since the time of Chief Josiah Olawoyin
maintained its culture of political rebellion
against the status quo in Illorin from
where the Saraki political machinery
projects its influence.
Offa, is also the ancestral home of Alhaja
Sherifat Aregbesola, the wife of the
governor of Osun State which according
to some sources drew the governor and
his associates into projecting the election
as a must win for the APC.
Indeed, many eyes were focused on the
re-run election some natives based
outside the state came from as far as
Lagos to, in the words of one observer, to
“Stand against the Saraki machine.”
*Gulak
The main candidates were Saheed
Popoola of the APC and Alhaji
AbdulWaheed Olanipekun of the PDP.
Olawore was boisterous ahead of the
election. “I know our people will vote for
me, I have gone round and I have paid
my dues and I’m confident that I will win
“he quipped after voting at a polling unit
in front of the palace.”
The residents in Offa were determined
and the turnout was very impressive just
as security was at its best and the
election was crisis free. But after that, the
crisis.
True to his words, chairman of the Kwara
State Independent Electoral Commission,
Dr. Uthman Ajidagba on the following day
after the election, Sunday declared
Olanipekun, candidate of the ruling
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as the
winner of the Chairmanship seat with a
total vote of 35,937 against the 20,161
votes polled by the APC. The declaration
was done in Ilorin the state capital, many
kilometers from the venue of the election.
He also said that all PDP councillorship
candidates won in all the 12 wards in the
Local Government area. But in his swift
reaction, the Protem Chairman of All
Progressives Congress in the state,
Comrade Shola Iji rejected the result
saying that the result declared by the
state Independent Electoral Commission
was not the original result of the election.
Comrade Shola Iji while rejecting the
result said, “We are not accepting the
result because it was not an honest result
of Saturday election conducted in Offa.”
The following day, Monday the protest
gained momentum as people suspected
to be members of APC and sympathisers
of Popoola poured to the streets in Offa.
The protests in Ilorin were led by former
chairman, Caretaker Committee of the
former Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN)
in the State, Comrade Sola Iji, campaign
director of the governorship candidate of
ACN in 2011, Dr Sa’ad Omoya, Otunba
Iyiola Oyedepo, Mohammed Dele
Belgore’s running mate, Joshua Adeyinka,
Rev Bunmi Olusona among others.
Peaceful rally
The peaceful rally commenced around
10am at the former Congress for
Progressive Change (CPC)’s office, Offa
Road, Ilorin.
Speaking with reporters, Comrade Iji said
the protestors had come to the KWSIEC
headquarters to register their rejection of
the results.
Said he: “If you have been following
events of Saturday up till yesterday and
this morning, you will discover that the
local government election that was held in
Offa, Offa local government area of the
state on Saturday; the results were
announced at the polling units; the results
were collated in all the twelve wards. And
we approached the local government
collation centres where we expected that
the results collated at the wards would be
collated for final announcement of the
winner of the election.
“Unfortunately, the returning officer who
is the local government electoral officer of
the Kwara state Independent Electoral
Commission (KWSIEC) just disappeared.
He absconded and we waited there till
about 10pm before the materials were
moved to the headquarters of KWSIEC
here in Ilorin that night.
Executive chamber
But Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of kwara
state amidst the raging controversy on
Tuesday swore in the PDP candidate
Olanipekun. Performing the swearing-in
the Government House Executive
Chamber, Governor Ahmed charged
Olanipekun to tackle the daunting security
challenges facing the people of Offa and
its environment.
Responding, the newly sworn-in Offa
local government council chairman, Hon.
Olanipekun promised to use all his
experience towards the development of
the council and also called on the people
of the council to join hands with him in
the task of uplifting the socio economic
growth of the council.
The development however took a twist on
Wednesday at a press conference in Offa
where Olawole denounced his victory as a
councilor.
He said his denouncement of the victory
awarded him by KWASIEC became
necessary because, as a true son of Offa,
he stands for equity and justice stressing
that one day everyone will account for his
deeds before God Almighty.
The embattled APC chairmanship
candidate, Popoola also said that he will
do everything possible,” within the ambit
of law and our democratic rights to
retrieve this mandate and exercise it to
the benefit of the people of Offa and the
glory of God”
“We shall not rest, we shall not sleep and
we will not be tired until the people’s
mandate is respected and the rightful
candidate is sworn in”
But the chairman of PDP in Offa local
government Engineer Goke Rabiu,
however, denied that the acclaimed
councillorship candidate Olawole was the
PDP candidate in the last election.
He explained that when the party took the
then ACN chairmanship candidate and the
councillors to court, he did not join in the
suit, stressing that all those who joined
the suit excluding him were returned the
ticket.
Engr Goke also said that the PDP couldn’t
have given him the ticket because he has
already joined APC and was sighted in
many of their campaign rallies.