The Osun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party has said it has been distributing food items and kerosene to residents of the state for years, especially during festive periods, before it began its campaign for the forthcoming governorship election.
The Publicity Secretary of Osun PDP, Mr. Bola Ajao, told our correspondent that the party has been distributing several tonnes of rice and thousands of litres of kerosene to show that it cares for the people and denied insinuations that the party was using such items to induce voters.
He said, “This is Africa; in Africa we are known for the being our brother’s keepers. So, what we are doing, distributing rice and the kerosene is to show that we care for the people of Osun State.
We didn’t start doing it because of election. We have been giving rice to people especially during festivities because we know that we have in our society people who might not be able to easily afford these things. This is also not the first time we are distributing kerosene.”
Ajao said in spite of the criticisms of the practice which has been termed ‘stomach infrastructure,’ the party would continue to distribute such items to those in need.
“We will continue giving out things even after the election. This is to show you that it is not about the election. We are only doing this to show the kind of party we are; a party that cares for the masses. As a matter of fact more batches of rice and may be kerosene will come before the election,” he said.
Our correspondent observed that hundreds of 50kg bags of rice, thousands of five-kilogram bags of rice as well as several cartoons of vegetable oil – all branded – were stocked at the PDP secretariat in Osogbo awaiting distribution.
The party has also engaged in distributing other branded gifts such as shirts, caps, hats, umbrellas, hand fans etc during its campaign rallies.
Meanwhile, The incumbent Osun State Governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, has warned politicians against militarisation of Nigerian politics.
The governor, who spoke through his Special Adviser on Environment, Mr. Bola Ilori, at a news conference in Osogbo, yesterday, said that deploying troops for election was a violation of the constitution and a gross abuse of office.
Ilori said that it had become so ridiculous that soldiers were now being deployed in land disputes.
According to him, frequent deployment of the military in purely civil matters could work against the advancement of democracy.
He said, “If you use the military to hijack power, you should expect that the military would not sit back and watch you enjoy what you did not work for. They may strike and that will be too bad for our nation.
“The Nigerian political class is giving ideas to the military that they can hijack power with the way some people are using them to hijack power. The political class has gone to the extent of inviting soldiers in land dispute.
The Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musliu Obanikoro, recently brought soldiers into a land dispute with the Lagos State Government.
While expressing the confidence that Aregbesola would win the August 9 election, he said the governor had performed very well and the people of the state were ready to re-elect him as the governor.