Soldiers in Osun for peace-keeping – Obanikoro

Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, on Monday urged Osun State residents not to be scared by the soldiers and other armed security operatives deployed in the state were sent to prevent breakdown of law and order before, during and after the August 9 governorship election.

Obanikoro who spoke at a press conference in Osogbo, said the soldier were not meant to intimidate people but to maintain peace in all parts of the state. continue..

He denied claims that the soldiers were in the state to victimise members of the opposition.

He said, “The soldiers you are seeing are trained security personnel who are after peace in the country.”

Obanikoro also alleged that the All Progressives Congress was importing people from Lagos State. He urged the people of Osun to resist any invasion by people from Lagos.

He said, “The people of Osun State should resist this invasion and we will support them to ensure that they did not succeed in achieving this. There was no multiple voting, no ballot snatching. The military helped the process. On the constitutionality of military presence.

“Osun is bigger than Ekiti that is why the presence will be more. Their moving people to Osun is dangerous to democracy, they should leave the people of Osun to make their choice freely and it is my responsibility to secure the people, not to give advantage to the PDP but to the people of Osun. The President wants one man one vote and it is the duty of some of us to ensure that is made possible.”

Also speaking the former Director General, the News Agency of Nigeria, Akin Osuntokun, said there was contradiction in the APC’s claim on the presence of the military in elections.

According to him, “With the military presence people still came out en masse. If you were the President would you take chances in the face of security threat of Boko Haram, the violent history of past election? They speaking from the two sides of their mouth. They would be the ones to blaim the president should anything thing on towards happened after all.”‎

Also speaking, former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode said the PDP was prepared to win the Saturday election hence the massive campaign by the party.