•Rauf Aregbesola
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has raised the alarm over alleged plans to arrest its National Secretary, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, ahead of Saturday’s Osun State election.
In a statement signed by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC said it had received “credible reports” of plans to arrest Aregbesola in the days leading to the election.
The party said the reported move could not be dismissed, citing what it described as a growing pattern of “intimidation, harassment and misuse of state institutions” against opposition parties by the government, reports The Guardian.
According to the ADC, Aregbesola, a former Governor of Osun State, former Minister of the Federal Republic and the party’s National Secretary, should only be invited by any security agency through “established procedures” if there is a lawful reason to question him.
The party warned that arresting him on the eve of an election in which the ADC is participating would “invite only one reasonable conclusion” — that the move was intended to prevent him from leading and coordinating the party’s election activities.
The ADC consequently put the federal government and security agencies “on notice”, saying Nigerians were watching developments in Osun State closely.
“The eyes of Nigerians are on Osun,” the party said, adding that whatever happens before, during and after Saturday’s election would be judged “not by the explanations offered afterwards, but by the actions taken now.”
The opposition party further warned the APC-led federal government against taking any action that could “plunge Osun State into needless crisis.”
“Nigeria is still a democracy, and the government would do well to remember that before Saturday,” the ADC said.
