Junior defence minister Obanikoro “soiled his hands”: The INEC allegation that nearly turned into a fight

A stakeholder meeting organized by the Independent National Electoral Commission in Ondo, almost turned into a boxing match – it did turn into a shouting match on Tuesday.
What happened?
Well, the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Akin Orebiyi, hinted at the fact that the commission will author a report which makes the case that the Minister of State for Defense, Musiliu Obanikoro had “his hands soiled” during a recently held by-election.
The meeting, which was attended by political parties and the security agencies, began smoothly with all parties stating their positions on the outcome of the election.
While responding to the contributions of the parties, Orebiyi blamed politicians for the crisis witnessed during the Ilaje/ESE-Odo by-election, saying that it was their refusal to adhere to the commission’s code of conduct that resulted in the inconclusiveness of the vote.
The REC said ballots were not cast in about 59 units, a number which totals 28,000 registered voters.
Commenting on the conduct of politicians, Orebiyi said, “We are aware of how Obanikoro even soiled his hands obstructing the electoral process. You can quote me anywhere. You can quote me anywhere…”
PDP Members at the meeting were angered by the statement, saying they took exceptions to the REC’s allegations.
But Orebiyi, evidently not finished with his comments, said this.
“One of our officers was almost lynched by the people because they mistook him for Obanikoro. We know what happened and you can quote me anywhere.”
The rowdiness that followed saw PDP members and the Labour Party almost engage in a fight as they tried to outdo each other in a shouting match.
As soon the dust settled, Orebiyi fed new fire to the already simmering stove by saying, “Let the Minister of State for Defense defend himself, let him defend himself.”
He said politicians did not only put the lives of the electoral officials at risk, but also forced them to collect money.
“One of them brought and showed us N8,000 he was forced to collect,” he said.
The People for Democratic Change state chairman, Mr. Lawrence Oyesanmuyi, in his submission, called on the INEC and the security agencies to investigate the role played by Obanikoro and his use of ‘fake soldiers’ during the election.
He also said his party would boycott the supplementary election, unless INEC was prepared to fund the parties.
The PDP chairman in Ese-Odo local government, one of the councils where the election was held, Mr. Solomon Tunyan, defended the minister, and his party’s conduct, saying that as a serving minister, Obanikoro had the right to visit any part of the country with the full security compliment.
He dismissed the allegation that he brought fake soldiers for the election as unfounded

photo by; daily review