Army Captain speaks out How Fayose,Obanikoro,others used soldiers to rig Ekiti poll

Captain Sagir Koli of the 32nd Artillery Brigade in Ekiti State, who released an audio recording which purportedly has the voice of the then Peoples Democratic Party’s candidate, Ayo Fayose, in the June 21 governorship election and others meeting on how to allegedly rig the election, on Saturday, insisted the clip was authentic.

In an interview by Sahara TV which was monitored by Sunday Punch, Koli narrated how soldiers were allegedly deployed in Ekiti to manipulate the poll in favour of the ruling party.

He stated that none of Fayose, Obanikoro and other Peoples Democratic Party leaders could deny being at the meeting.Fayose, Obanikoro and Omisore however, denied both the meeting and the voices in the audio clip.

The Army captain, who has been on self exile after he released the audio tape, said he was ready to testify against those at the meeting should they file a suit in court.He also said

“It came as a surprise to us. Three weeks to the election, Brig.-Gen. (Aliyu) Momoh was brought in. When he came, he asked us to work with him. When we entered Ekiti State, we started to see a different thing. The commander said this is his direction and we had to follow him.
“He said he was working for the Presidency. He said it categorically. ‘Look, I’m working for the Presidency and anything I am doing, follow my directions. That was what necessitated the compromise in the election.
“The commander asked all the troops to work with Peoples Democratic Party thugs to make sure that his given assignment was done.”

Koli said he played an advisory role in the election as an intelligence officer. He said there were tactical commanders on ground who covered the 16 local government areas of the state.

“Each local government area was assigned a major or a captain, with soldiers to cover those areas adequately. Those tactical commanders were given specific directives on what to do. The PDP and its teams had what they called ‘contacts’; they were PDP supporters and thugs.
“What the commanders were ordered to do was to work directly with those contacts and make sure that whatever those contacts wanted, they should do it. That was the directive. After giving the directive, we moved round the 16 LGAs to ensure compliance by the tactical commanders,” he said.

He added,

“They (security operatives) were assembled at the Forward Operational Base adjacent the Ekiti State Government House. He (Fayose) was given a task force. The task force was composed of military components, the Police, Mobile Police Force and security operatives from the DSS (Department of State Security). They were asked to go and work with the PDP contacts in the 16 LGAs.

“Additionally, a sticker was designed and a hand band. On election days, ordinarily and constitutionally, we restrict movements from 06:00 to 18:00 hours. Those stickers were given to PDP supporters; that anybody or any vehicle seen with that sticker should be allowed unlimited access on the Election Day, and that was what was done.”

The recording purportedly captured Fayose; Brig.-Gen. Aliyu Momoh, who was in charge of the election; Osun PDP governorship candidate, Senator Iyiola Omisore; Minister for Police Affairs, Jelili Adesinyan; and former Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro, in a meeting where they allegedly gave directives to the military to favour the PDP.

Speaking with SUNDAY PUNCH, Adesiyan on Saturday admitted that there was a conversation but it was at a scene in Ado-Ekiti, when Fayose and the General engaged in an altercation which almost resulted in a fight.

He explained that the General was accused of being bribed by Governor Kayode Fayemi and the All Progressives Congress, which led to a heated argument between him (the general) and Fayose.

Adesiyan said,

“Nigerians are not dummies. These people are mischievous; somebody recorded the scene but let everybody listen to it. Listen to it yourself and get back to me.
“Fayose accused the General who supervised the Ekiti election of taking bribe from Fayemi and APC, that was two days before the election. They called me because they said the General disarmed policemen and I told him to allow the policemen to do their job.
“I was there, Fayose was there, Otunba Omisore was there, Senator Obanikoro was there. I am not denying that there was a conversation but it was not what they are saying.”

Omisore also debunked the allegation of rigging, saying it was an attempt by the APC to tarnish his image.