by Zara Mustapha

Osun state Peoples Democratic Party gubernatorial aspirant, Iyiola Omisore has accused the the state governor, Rauf Aregbesola of acquiring 20 Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) to intimidate the electorate during the exercise which is scheduled to hold on August 9, 2014.

Senator Omisore alleged that the incumbent governor who is gunning for a second term in office on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has the armoured personnel carriers parked within the precinct of the Government House, Oke Fia, Osogbo. He accused Aregbesola of purchasing the vehicle with taxpayers money which ought to have been expended on development of the state.

Omisore in a press statement issued through his Director of Media and Strategy, Diran Odeyemi, that the PDP gubernatorial candidate faulted the purchase of the armoured tanks, stressing that “what informed the acquisition of 20 APCs when we are not fighting a civil war in Osun.”

Nigerian Tribune reports:

According to him, “Aregbesola had a premeditated strategy to release these APCs for some questionable use during this coming election. If not, why did he fail to release these armoured tanks to the police authorities if they were actually purchased for the security of the state and the interest of the masses he claimed to be protecting.”

Reacting to the development on behalf of the governor, Director, Bureau of Communications and Strategy, Mr Semiu Okanlawon, in an email forwarded to journalists, said: “Omisore is obviously threatened by his own past for accusing Governor Rauf Aregbesola  of acquiring new Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs).”

According to him, “in an apparent display of either ignorance, mischief or both, Omisore said the acquisition of APCs is for the August 9 governorship election. In the first place, we do not know why Omisore is catching fever and cold all at once over the state government’s acquisition of APCs and other security patrol vans at this stage. 

“If Omisore and his handlers have forgotten, this government did not have to wait for any election before putting in place adequate mechanism to protect the peace and security of our people. Perhaps, the PDP candidate and his hangers-on believe that the entire people of Osun also have short memory just as they do. 

“They need to be reminded that on April 5, 2013, Governor Rauf Aregbesola handed over about 120 patrol vans and five APCs to the security agencies at a ceremony witnessed by an Assistant Inspector General, Ghandi Orubebe.”