CSO urges security officers to arrest actors in Ogun Guber poll fraud

A civil society organization known as the Centre For Grassroots Development and Crime Prevention has issued a request to the security services in the state of Ogun to apprehend individuals who are associated with the enormous fraud that occurred during the governorship election on March 18, 2023.

The committee said that the spotlight should initially focus on a particularly powerful opposition party and the candidates representing that party in the election.

According to the allegations, the ring leader and his associates have been trying to evade capture by scurrying from pillar to post.

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The Chief Security Officer (CSO) asserted that the perpetrators of the fraud used a fictitious foundation to distribute approximately 200,000 Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards that were issued by a commercial bank and loaded with N10,000 each with the intention to buy votes across the state and influence the outcome of the electoral process to their favour, thereby violating the electoral law with almost complete impunity.

The organization claimed in a press statement that was signed by its national coordinator, Comrade Taiwo Salako, and a copy of which was made available to newsmen that the magnitude of electoral fraud perpetrated by the candidate and his party during the poll was practically unprecedented in the state. They called on the concerned authorities to address the infraction and make the perpetrators face the wrath of the law. A copy of the press statement was made available to newsmen.

According to Salako, after polluting the political climate of the state and flagrantly flouting the extant law of the land and the Electoral Act, the lead actor and his co-travelers in these crimes must be punished in order to serve as a deterrence to those who have the same mindset of electoral rascality. Salako said this should be done in order to serve as a deterrent to others who have the same mentality.

According to what he stated, ever since the crime was committed and therefore exposed, the party’s candidate had been scurrying from pillar to post to elude arrest and escape prosecution; this informed his recent journey to a foreign country.

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In light of this, the organization has issued a plea for his immediate arrest, which they say should, if necessary, be carried out with the assistance of INTERPOL. They have also stated that justice should not be delayed in this kind of circumstance since it would have a negative influence on the people as well as the sanctity of the election process in Nigeria.

In addition, Salako stated that the electoral infringement that occurred on March 18 during the gubernatorial election in the state without resorting to the electoral law was a significant threat to democracy not only in the state of Ogun but also throughout the entirety of Nigeria.