The issuance of Certificate of Return to
lawmakers-elect in Osun State was almost marred by violence on Monday,
as some hoodlums attacked a lawmaker-elect from Ife East Constituency,
Mr. Akinwole Akinwale.
The lawmaker-elect was about leaving the
state office of the Independent National Electoral Commission when some
miscreants waylaid him and prevented him from leaving the venue.
Our correspondent observed that there was a brief fight at the gate of the INEC, but the crisis was quickly resolved.
Akinwole later told our correspondent on the telephone that those who attacked him were sent by a former commissioner from Ife.
He said that he had been told that he
would not be allowed to collect the Certificate of Return but he did not
take the warning seriously.
He said, “I was attacked by some boys who
said that the former commissioner had said I should not be allowed to
take the certificate. I was told he asked them to shoot me if I insisted
on collecting it.
“I
was attacked while coming out of the INEC office and they tore my
clothes. The policemen who were there tried to rescue me and I was
ferried out of the place in the Speaker’s car.”
Earlier, the Resident Electoral
Commissioner, Dr. Adekunle Ogunmola, advised the lawmakers-elect to set
aside their political differences and work together to move the state
forward.
The REC urged the legislators-elect not to betray the trust reposed in them by the electorate who voted for them.
Responding, lawmakers-elect said they
were ready to work for the development of the state, irrespective of
their party affiliation.
The Deputy Speaker of Osun State House of
Assembly, Mr. Akintunde Adegboye, who spoke on behalf of the 24
lawmakers elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress,
lauded the Speaker, Mr. Najem Salam, for the way he had led the assembly
for the past four years.
The PDP lawmaker-elect from Ife Central, Mr. Oladejo Makinde, lauded the INEC for being fair in the conduct of the election.
He said that the lawmakers-elect were friends and would unite to move the state forward.
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