WITHIN the space of one month, two key players in the Ondo state political space have died under curious circumstances, leaving many Nigerians concerned about possible violence ahead of the November 16 governorship election in the state.
On Saturday, April 27, one of the coordinators of the Lucky Aiyedatiwa Campaign Organisation, Alaba Abbey, was assassinated.
He was shot dead by gunmen at his residence in Supare-Akoko, Akoko South West Local Government Area (LGA) of the state.
A month earlier, on Tuesday, March 26, a gubernatorial aspirant under the All Progressives Congress (APC), Paul Akintelure, died days after raising an alarm that his life was being threatened.
While Abbey’s killing occurred just six days after the conclusion of the APC primary, in which he was reported to have played the significant role of Returning Officer at his ward, Akintelure died about three weeks before the party’s primaries in which he would have been a major contender.
The ICIR reports that while the two deaths affected the APC chieftains before and after the primary, some contenders for the governorship seat who lost in the party’s primary have remained resentful as the state and national leadership of the APC labour to appease them.
The deaths have left many residents of the state worried about safety ahead of the polls, especially members of the APC, including the Campaign Organisation where Abbey served before his assassination.
Members of the organisation released a statement expressing shock at his killing and urging the police to protect them from such violent acts.
Before the two incidents, some governorship aspirants under the APC had raised the alarm over political violence in the state, claiming people in government were behind the crisis.
Reacting to this, the spokesperson of the Ondo state APC, Alex Kalejaye, attributed these to the general problem of insecurity confronting all Nigerians.
“It has nothing to do with the primaries. Across this country, whether there are primaries or not, somebody is hit, injured, or killed on a daily basis. We should admit that there are serious security challenges across the country. It has been on. The current administration is trying to nip it in the bud. We must commend the efforts, but it is still everywhere. These things happen,” he said.
He added that while it was not a major source of worry for the party, efforts were being made to reconcile aggrieved members ahead of the elections.
“Naturally, once there is an election in Nigeria, there will be a need for reconciliation because there is no how you contest that people will not feel aggrieved. Reconciliation is normal, so that is where our focus is now: to reconcile anybody that might have cause to be aggrieved ahead of the November governorship election.
However, the spokesperson of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, Kennedy Peretei, who spoke to The ICIR on the issue, described the loss of lives as a matter of concern.
“When loss of life is involved, everybody must be concerned because we are not talking of the lives of animals; we are talking of the lives of human beings. Whether it is by natural cause or maybe effected on another by some other persons, there should be cause for concern.
“We have expressed concern, but Ondo State is not known for that kind of violence. That is why we are advising the APC to play by the rules of the game,” he said.
Urging the ruling party to show leadership by example, Peretei warned against militarisation of the electoral process or intimidation of the people.
Nineteen political parties will be contesting the Ondo State governorship elections in November.
Two of the major contenders are incumbent governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, who is contesting under the APC, and Agboola Ajayi, who joined the contest under the umbrella of the PDP.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via vopara@icirnigeria.org or @ije_le on Twitter.