Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Wednesday,March 6, in Abeokuta assured that Saturday’s governorship and House of Assembly polls in Ogun would be peaceful.
Osinbajo gave the assurance at a mega rally organised by the All Progressive Congress (APC) in the Abeokuta-South council area of the state.
He said the assurance became necessary to allay the fears of the people and to encourage them to troop out en masse and exercise their civic rights on Saturday, March 9.
Osinbajo urged Ogun people to discountenance threats raised in some quarters that hoodlums would be unleashed across the state to intimidate electorate to the advantage of a particular party. Osinbajo, who commended the APC members in the state for voting for the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari, urged them to replicate the party’s victory in the state by voting massively for the APC governorship candidate in Ogun, Dapo Abiodun.
A former governor of the state and APC chieftain, Chief Segun Osoba, also reiterated the determination of the federal government to ensure peaceful conduct of the polls in the state.
He said that security officials would begin an exercise of Show of Force across the state to display and demonstrate their presence and to give warning to potential hoodlums.
The APC candidate, Abiodun, in his remarks, gave assurance that he would ensure that the state moved to an enviable height if elected as governor.
It was reported that the APC presidential campaign in Ogun turned violent and chaotic after being hijacked by hoodlums.
Several clashes among rival political parties, particularly between the APC and the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) sponsored by the state governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, during political campaigns, also contributed to the situation.
The police had since deployed three additional commissioners of police to the state to beef up security for Saturday’s elections.