Osun 2018: Parties Resort To Underground Scheming

By Kehinde Ayantunji

As preparation to elect the successor to incumbent administration in the state of Osun is few days away, political parties have resorted to underground scheming in place of open rally which would be suspended on Thursday by virtue of the provision of the law.

The electoral guideline stipulates that no political rally is allowed 48 hours to the election, a condition the parties must obey in order not to fall prey of the law.

In a bid to outsmart one another, parties’ bigwigs, OSUN DEFENDER gathered were still talking on a possible alliance between and among some of the smaller parties ahead of Saturday.

Investigation revealed that no party is confident of total victory in the election, as the chieftains were of the view that except alliance talks are successful, no single political party is sure of victory even among the front runners.

It was gathered that the PDP is struggling to reach an alliance with the SDP, having alleged that its (SDP) candidate had collected money from the PDP to give his support before the agreement collapsed, but the PDP is said not to be given up on the possibility of something coming out of the relationship.

Meanwhile the ADC is also touting a strange affair with other parties without making headway and it was gathered that the party may seek a better deal with ADP as one of the leaders, who is also a former governor of the state was said to be negotiating with the leadership of the Action Democratic Party.

Besides the usual talk of alliances, the APC and the ADP employed different strategies to sway voters in their favour, as an ADP chieftain, Prince Babayemi organized medical outreach in the three senatorial districts to cater for those with different medical conditions.

Similarly, the Campaign Organisation of the APC candidate  also organize similar programme in the three senatorial districts, while the SDP is said to be sending out employment form to youths across the state with the promise of getting them different categories of job.

Also, the five major parties were reported to have deployed the use of ICT to reach out to potential voters in a bid to ensure they maintain and retain their commitment ahead of Saturday.

As at the time of filing this report, no tangible alliance have been achieved by any of the parties, but it was gathered that some of the opposition parties are working towards having one before Saturday in a bid to avoid the Oyo State scenario in the 2015 governorship poll.

The candidates are also banking on their performance at the debates organised by different media outfits in the state, except the PDP candidate, Senator Ademola Adeleke who did not show up for any of the debates in the state.

However, the last minutes rush for votes among political parties is such that the populace in the state has become a bride for all the parties to court but the party that eventually wins would be the best in the trade of persuasion.