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| Aluko |
Fresh facts have emerged on how
the June 21, 2014 governorship election in Ekiti State was allegedly
manipulated in favour of Governor Ayo Fayose.
The embattled former State
Secretary of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Tope Aluko, has revealed
how the rigging was perfected inside a hotel barely a week before the poll.
He said sensitive materials of
the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), such as ballot papers and
result sheets, were delivered to PDP chieftains to allow for the manipulation
of the poll long before the first ballot was cast.
Speaking on a special interview
programme on Wednesday on ADABA 88. 9 FM monitored by our
reporter, Aluko claimed that the electoral materials were delivered through
Akure Airport and taken to a hotel owned by Fayose’s Chief of Staff Dipo
Anisulowo in Are-Ekiti, where the alleged manipulation was carried out.
He said ballot papers were
thumb-printed and result sheets filled by PDP members, which gave the party
“undue advantage.''
Aluko explained that Department
of State Services (DSS) operatives, led by a woman officer, stormed Anisulowo’s
hotel and arrested the PDP henchmen but they were released within three hours
because “you know we (PDP) were in government at that time.''
The whistleblower said a lorry
conveying some of the electoral materials was intercepted by soldiers led by
the recently retired Brig.-Gen. Aliyu Momoh.
“But the materials were
later released after the officers received ‘order from above’.”
According to him, the Fayose
administration received the refund of the N5.2 billion spent on Ado-Ifaki
highway by the Kayode Fayemi administration.
He said the governor
initially denied but it was confirmed by former President Goodluck Jonathan
during the PDP presidential campaign rally. The PDP chief alleged that the
money was diverted to the Ado-Ekiti flyover, following the outcry generated.
Aluko said: “Ask him (Fayose) why
did (former Works Commissioner) Kayode Oso flee?
“Finance Commissioner Toyin
Ojo told DSS interrogators about the state’s finances, including the N5.2
billion refunded on theAdo-Ifaki Road carried out by Fayemi.
“You will recall that the
governor denied receiving the refund but Ojo’s revelation made him
(Fayose) divert the money for the flyover.”
Responding to questions on the
prosecution threat by the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice,
Owoseni Ajayi, the PDP chieftain said Ajayi is also liable for prosecution for
his alleged role in an attack on the court.
Aluko said: “I pity Owoseni Ajayi
who is saying that I should be prosecuted because he (Ajayi) was the one
who ‘disrupted’ the delivery of a ruling by Justice Olusegun Ogunyemi.
“Owoseni told Fayose on phone
that should the judge deliver the ruling on the perjury case, it would go
against him and his planned swearing-in would be in jeopardy.”
Speaking on the purported
reconciliation meeting with Fayose in a Lagos hotel, Aluko said he never went
to meet Fayose as believed in some quarters.
His words: “It was the governor
and former Ekiti Assembly factional Speaker Dele Olugbemi who barged into a
meeting I was holding with some PDP leaders.
“Olugbemi and Fayose barged into
the meeting venue. Olugbemi is a liar. He had lied against Fayose. He lied against the All Progressives
Congress (APC) and the PDP. He is working for the money and
appointment he just received from Fayose. I did not create a scene at the
venue because hefty men were stationed around and my wife was afraid of what
could happen. The governor held my clothes
that I should not talk when I wanted to talk. I feared for my wife who later
disappeared from the scene and I did not know her whereabouts. They almost attacked me when I
went to Channels Television but it was policemen led by the CP who saved me
after being holed up there for about three hours.
“I played safe because of my wife
and to avoid the scenario that played out when I went to Channels Television to
grant my first interview.”
Aluko contended that his disagreement
with the governor started with his (Fayose’s) alleged derailment from the plan
for the development of Ekiti State and not because he was not made Chief of
Staff.
He said: “I am not doing this
because I was denied appointment. I discovered that this man has no plans for
Ekiti and I went to him thatOga, it’s almost a year in office now and we have
not done anything for the people.
“Fayose replied me by saying
‘don’t worry, Ekiti people are easy to deceive because by the time you buy them ponmo (cow
skin) and booli(roasted plantain), you have stolen their hearts.'
“It was there that our crisis
started. The issue of Chief of Staff was secondary. Fayose derailed from our
blueprint for the development of Ekiti. He cancelled the monthly allowances for
the aged. He imposed taxes on
primary school pupils, among his other anti-people policies but when I reminded
him, he told me that Ekiti people are gullible. I need the prayer of Nigerians
so that I will not fall prey to the evil machinations of those planning to kill
me by all means because of the truth I told Nigerians.”