Video: If You Won’t Vote For ‘Bola’, Stay Away From This Side – Ikire Chief Warns Electorates

Another viral video has emerged showing a man, said to be a traditional chief in Ikire, Irewole Local Government Area, urging residents to vote massively for the All Progressives Congress candidate Bola Oyebamiji and warning those not supporting him to “stay away from this side” on election day.

The video is the latest in a series of clips that have emerged from Osun, coming after similar videos involving Osun East Senator, Francis Fadahunsi, and a House of Representatives candidate for Ifelodun/Boripe/Odo-Otin Federal Constituency, Francis Eniade.

NAIJAONPOINT report that Fadahunsi, who represents Osun East Senatorial District, came under criticism after a video surfaced in which he was allegedly heard directing his supporters to “kill” members of the Accord Party ahead of the election.

The senator, however, denied making a call for violence, saying he instructed his supporters to “kill Accord” with votes, not through physical attacks.

Meanwhile, in another viral video also obtained on Tuesday, Eniade, who was also addressing a campaign rally, said no Accord member should come out to vote in Odo Otin Local Government Area on the day of the election.

Eniade, who also spoke in Yoruba language, said, “I was only waiting for today before I talked. I swear to God, anyone who is not an APC member should not come out on election day. If you said you won’t listen to us, we have warned you. All the votes in Odo-Otin belong to the APC.

In the Ikire video, the chief who spoke in Yoruba language expressed confidence that Oyebamiji had already won the election, but stressed that the margin of votes from Irewole LGA, Oyebamiji’s home base, would be critical to avoid post-election complaints.

“God is on our side. What Bola Oyebamiji needs from Ikire is just a percentage. He has already won the election,” he said.

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“But the major thing is that we must ensure he has a lot of votes in Irewole Local Government so that they won’t be complaining once he emerges that the people of his home base did not give him many votes.

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“Because if we don’t vote massively for him, whenever it’s time to bring the dividend of democracy here, they might be referring to the number of votes we gave him from Irewole,” he added.

The chief said the period for campaigning was over and that what remained was to fix little loopholes.

“As we are here today, we don’t have any campaign to do again. What is left is to look at the little loopholes and see how to fix them,” he said.

He then referenced advice he said he received regarding non-supporters, adding, “I have heard from someone that what we should do is that anybody who is not ready to vote for Bola, it is better to tell him the truth that on that day, he should not cross to this side.
But we have to apply wisdom in doing it,” he said.

The remarks have drawn criticism from observers who say such statements amount to voter intimidation ahead of Saturday’s poll.

Commenting on the video, the Accord Party in Irewole LGA condemned the statement and called on security agencies to act immediately.

In a statement signed by its Media Directorate, the party described the remarks as an audacious attempt to disenfranchise the citizens and a direct assault on the integrity of our electoral process.

“This audacious attempt to disenfranchise free citizens is not only embarrassing and disgusting, but it also reveals a desperate resort to animalistic behaviour designed to subvert the constitutional rights of the electorate. Such blatant voter suppression belongs in the darkest chapters of history, not in a modern democratic society where the ballot box remains the ultimate authority of the people’s will,” the statement said.