The Civil Societies’ Coalition for the Emancipation of Osun State (CSCEOS) has warned that any plan to rig the Saturday, September 22, 2018 governorship election particularly by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) will be resisted by the masses in the state.

Addressing a Press Conference on Tuesday, September 18 at the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Centre, in Osogbo, CSCEOS Chairman, Comrade Sulaiman Adeniyi stated that people of the state should be given the opportunity to elect their governor without interference.

The group alleged that the incessant visits of Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo to the state was a serious concern, noting that within two weeks, the VP has left Abuja for the state three times and that the over N30billion funds released to Governor Rauf Aregbesola may be used to compromise the election. It accused the APC and INEC of a plan to subvert the will of the people during the election, alerting that whopping sums of money have been released to the security agencies as special duty allowances for the election.

“Our group, the CSCEOS salutes the unusual courage displayed by the people of this state in spite of the untold hardship they were subjected to by our rulers in the last few years. We are sure that the majority of us have painfully waited for this day to come. “The dictatorial policies of the outgoing administration showed that we are indeed ruled by a Hitler in agbada. Osun state people were molested, harassed and treated as third-class citizens on their father’s land. We were fooled, disgraced and pushed around like morons.

“While our leaders, their families and their cohorts and godfathers lived robustly, innocent citizens of this state were made to pass through a horrendous period. Our people were deceived by “O” this and “O” that and we are now left with debilitating debts that the unborn generations will keep on battling with.

“Our educational system was bastardized by abnormal procedures and our local government administration was virtually destroyed by these locusts who invaded this state in the last seven years. Billions of naira were carted away in this state and indeed our state was painfully milked and looted.

“The blood of the innocents shed through curious programs still littered the streets. We’ve lost the count of numbers of retirees who died while waiting for their pensions and gratuities. The so-called modulated “half” salaries for workers cannot be explained by any right-thinking individual.

“There were uncountable times when workers, students, retirees, traders and even civil society groups were on the streets protesting all forms of maladministration of this outgoing government,” the group said.

“Be that as it may, we have everything to fear that the September 22nd, 2018 election may not be credible. Despite the usual promises made by the INEC and the security agencies, we have reasons to believe that rigging of this election may have been perfected.

“But we are warning that anyone who makes move to subvert the will of the people in this election won’t go scot-free. The gods of this land will fight them and they will have no peace. “Elections may have been rigged elsewhere but we will strongly resist any attempt by anyone to undermine the September 22nd election. In fact, heads will roll if electoral thieves think they can steal the peoples’ votes here.

“Already, gladiators of the ruling party in the state have been threatening that this election would be rigged in their favour and are even telling people that the APC candidate has won the polls. Again, the Holy Book clearly states that “There is no peace unto the wicked. “Therefore, let this note of warning be sounded that anyone, no matter how powerful will not be spared if any attempt is made to rob us. If Osun people are left to elect their governor without interference, we are of the strong view that the best out of the 48 candidates would emerge.

“We, therefore, urge all Osun State citizens to come and vote in large numbers and ensure that those who want to rig this election are vehemently resisted. They should be alert. They should vote and ensure that their votes are counted,” it advised.

The group disclosed that it will put up an independent Station Room where the election will be monitored while telephone numbers will be released before Friday where people can lodge their complaints.

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