Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti went into a panic mode on Thursday as colourful posters of All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirant, Senator Babafemi Ojudu, appeared on strategic locations in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.
Ojudu, the special adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on political matters, will publicly declare his governorship aspiration in the Oke-Iyinmi area in Ado-Ekiti on Friday.
Qed.ng learnt that attempt by hoodlums to destroy Ojudu’s posters were foiled by the police and some residents of the town.
Fayose, through a statement signed by his spokesperson, Lere Olayinka, later directed that no poster should be pasted and billboard erected anywhere in the state without the approval of the state signage agency.
“Upon payment of necessary fees, the signage agency will not only give approval, but also designate appropriate sites for pasting of posters and erecting of billboards,” the statement said.
“To ensure sanity, the government has directed the signage agency to ensure immediate removal of ALL illegal posters and billboards in the State capital, not minding political parties, organizations or personalities involved.
“Interested members of the public should contact the state signage agency for further information.”
To give effect to the threat, agents of the state government were later seen removing posters bearing images of Fayose and his deputy and anointed candidate for the governorship election, Prof Kolapo Olusola-Eleka.
The Nigerian Human Rights Community (NHRC) had earlier accused Fayose, of plotting to disrupt Ojudu’s declaration.
The group alleged that Fayose’s agents plan to remove hundreds of posters and billboards already installed for this purpose.
In a statement on Thursday, the NHRC, a coalition of 135 civil society groups said there were complaints that Fayose was planning to use his thugs to disrupt the rally, starting with the defacing of the billboards carrying Ojudu’s campaign pictures and messages.
“We should be glad to see Mr Fayose prove these allegations wrong,” the group stated.
“Ahead of these reports that smack of intolerance, Mr Fayose, we were informed, has already deployed his thugs to either deface or totally remove Senator Ojudu’s billboards and burn them to ashes.
“We caution Mr Fayose to exercise restraints and tolerance, since nobody has tampered with any of the campaign materials he has either pasted or erected on the streets of Ado or its environs campaigning for his deputy, Prof. Eleka to succeed him.
“The rules guiding campaigns recognises plurality of opinions. We have been informed that Mr Fayose is already intimidated by the campaign strategy of Senator Ojudu. We think the solution is not to deploy violence. This will be like opening another ugly chapter in the history of Ekiti, a state that has seen so much political violence and state motivated killings in the past” the statement signed by Samuel Adenuga, the group’s assistant general secretary, stated.
According to the NHRC, the July election is not only of interest to Ekiti people, it is of greater interests to the international community.
“The July election will signal what pattern the 2019 elections may follow. Mr Fayose, the Chief Security Officer of Ekiti state is in a position to determine what Ekiti people should expect in July, either a civil conduct or a state of violence and blood-letting.
The group added: “Tolerance is important to political transition. The signals from Ekiti are not impressive. Our office has been inundated with trusted information that Mr Fayose is plotting to foment discourse by forcefully removing the posters of his opponents and also planning to disrupt their rallies. We have been informed that he has concluded plans to remove Senator Ojudu’s billboards and also invade his rally with thugs. This is completely in bad taste. The entire human rights community in Nigeria will hold Mr Fayose personally responsible for any incidence that may undermine basic democratic rules in Ekiti State.”
