PanNigerianNews 
By Sunday ADEPOJU
The chips were down yesterday in Iseyin, the heaquarters of Oyo North senatorial district, during the aborted primary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the senatorial district.
The contest was to be between the current lawmaker representing the district at the Senate, Senator Fatai Buhari, and the member representing Iseyin, Kajola, Itesiwaju and Iwajowa federal constituency at the House of Representatives, Hon. Shina Peller. It was meant to hold at the Iseyin District Secondary School (IDSS), Iseyin.
While Buhari is of Ogbomoso origin, Peller hails from Iseyin in Oke-Ogun axis of Oyo State. Oyo North comprises 13 local government areas – 3 in Ogbomoso and 10 in Oke-Ogun.
The district comprises Iseyin, Kajola, Itesiwaju, Iwajowa, Saki East, Saki West, Olorunsogo, Orelope, Atisbo, Irepo, Ogbomoso South, Ogbomoso North and Oriire local government areas.
On Saturday morning, I left Ogbomoso for Iseyin, got to the designated venue in Iseyin at 10:14 a.m. By then, accreditation had not really started. Then, as a shrewd reporter, I observed that the two aspirants had not arrived the venue, even though they were not meant to vote at the primary.
Just at the gate of the venue, there were operatives of the Nigeria Army, Nigeria Police, Nigerian Security Civil Defence Corps and other paramilitary agencies. Then, I beckoned to a lady. “Please, where do you think Sen. Buhari is?” I asked. “He hasn’t got here,” she replied. I asked her for Peller’s location and she simply told me she didn’t know. She directed me to a location, Barracks area, Iyana Isodo. I got to the residence of Engr Abolade Akanni, a staunch loyalist of Buhari, who was a former chairman of Iseyin LGA.
As it was visible, he and other bigwigs were strategising on how to move to the venue of the exercise. There, I was alerted that Peller had forcefully visited Sarapy Hotel, Odo Omu area of Iseyin where some delegates loyal to Buhari were. I was not there, though.
I devised the strategies of shuttling the venue, (IDSS) and Sarapy Hotel.
I was still at Engr Akanni’s street, keenly watching and studying the language and the body language of everybody. As at the time, accreditation was still ongoing at the venue, IDSC, Iseyin.
Violence, gunshots, lies
There was a somewhat cheap political game
allegedly played played by those in the camp of Peller. Still at the Barracks area, Iyana Isodo, Iseyin at about 3:00 p.m., Peller suddenly appeared with suspected thugs and men of the Directorate of State Service (DSS).
There was pandemonium as the said suspected armed thugs were harassing, beating and maiming loyalists of Buhari. In fact, I, and so many others, scampered for safety to the outskirts of the area. I later came back to the spot, immediately they left.
An ugly incident was the manner in which the tyres of vehicles belonging to Buhari’s loyalists, including son of of former Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala, Olamijuwonlo, were destroyed by the suspected thugs. Olamijuwonlo’s branded vehicles were parked outside Engr Akanni’s house.
One of the drivers of Olamijuwonlo’s branded vehicles, simply identified as Baba Tosin, was hit with pestle in the head many times. Another indigene of Ogbomoso, Martins, was hospitalised. A man who was stylishly recording the scene, got his phone seized by the hoodlums. When contacted for short interview, the man simply ran. I could understand why he did so.
Though I was not there after I had scampered for my dear life’s safety, I learnt that Olamijuwonlo’s presence meant a lot there, at least from the feelers.
Earlier, around 2:00 p.m., there were attacks by his men on the loyalists of Sen. Buhari at Sarapy Hotel, Odo Omu area, along Iseyin-Oyo road, Iseyin. After the mayhem, the panel of the election postponed the exercise to this morning.
The lies and what people said
The feelers were that Peller, having realised that he didn’t have the structure of the party, took to violence to halt the exercise. Right at Engr Akanni’s house, the hoodlums burst into the private residence to foment troubles. The hoodlums whisked loyalists of Buhari to an open field as a way of implicating the senator. One of those whisked told PanNigerian News that they forced them to sit on grass and put some papers at their front. The papers, it was learnt, contained the list of the delegates.
From my observation, the calmness on the part of Sen. Buhari, Olamijuwonlo, and other stakeholders meant a lot in saving people’s lives.
My conclusion
As a politics reporter, I do believe that election does not begin in a day and end that same day. I am of the opinion that there must have been calculations, mathematics, permutations and other intrigues of winning such internal election. Another observation is that Iseyin, been the home of Hon. Peller, should have been a plus for him. It was also learnt that most of the political heavyweight politicians of Iseyin APC are in support of Buhari. A neutral apolitical indigene of Iseyin told me on my way to Ogbomoso said to me, “You see, I’m not a card-carrying member of any political party. I’m a postgraduate student of the University of Ibadan. He has performed creditably well and favoured us in Oke-Ogun.”
As I close this dairy, I think the security needs to be beefed up for decorum in today’s rescheduled primary. There is a need for the two gladiators to embrace peace and consider the lives of delegates, stakeholders, security personnel and the community at large.
