The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has filed the written statements of 600 witnesses against the petition of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its governorship candidate, Senator Iyiola Omisore in the August 9 election in the state at the state Elction Petition Tribunal
Also, the APC alleged that Osun PDP had hatched a plan to foment trouble across the state, thus making the state ungovernable for the state Governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola.

But the statements of 600 witnesses in the election petition were filed at the weekend alongside the reply of the APC, which is the second respondent in the petition.
The party’s counsel, Mr. Kunle Adegoke said the party and Aregbesola “are asking the tribunal to dismiss the petition of PDP and its candidate for it is baseless, frivolous and contentious.”

Adegoke added that the reply of APC contained 257 pages explained the true position of what happened and how it happened in the local governments being challenged by the PDP.
He said: “In our reply to the petition, we have about 600 witnesses that we have prepared their witness statements to counter the allegations of the petitioners.
“Our reply is to the effect that the allegations raised by the petitioners are completely frivolous, baseless, vexatious and constitute abuse of court process.
“We are saying they do not have any business at the tribunal. They are only here to waste the precious time of the tribunal and our own precious time too. In addition, we are saying there must be punitive cost to be awarded against the petitioners for wasting the time of the court and our own time too,” he explained.

He also informed the tribunal that if not for the vigilance, resoluteness and the preparedness of the electorate that stood firm to say no to rigging, the election would have been rigged by the PDP and its candidate.
He noted that if the petitioners “are serious, and desirous of driving the petition the way it should be done, the petition would be concluded within the stipulated 180 days.”
But the Osun APC alleged that intelligence reports showed that the PDP had planned to stage  a protest in Osogbo with the aim of making the state ungovernable.

He said the PDP leadership in the state “is already arranging for hundreds of youths to be transported to Abuja to protest the victory of Aregbesola in the August 9 governorship election.
“This protest will be based on the yet-to-be-substantiated allegation that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) colluded with the governor and the APC to rig the August 9 election.

“The underlying theme of the Abuja protest by the PDP will be that INEC gave the election to the APC to prevent President Goodluck Jonathan from winning the 2015 presidential election. So, the protest will be effectively against the INEC and the APC.
Although Omisore had approached the tribunal on the same allegation, the APC said the Osun PDP “is not depending on the tribunal alone to snatch the victory it could not achieve at the ballot. It has therefore fashioned an elaborate plan to create mayhem in the state to give the impression of popular displeasure at the outcome of the election.
“The first phase of this plan is to hire 10 buses that will convey young men and women to Abuja to protest Aregbesola’s victory. The youths are allegedly being motivated with N10 million to participate. After this Abuja protest, PDP thugs will descend on the state targeting APC leaders and known supporters in a sustained reign of terror that will destroy lives and properties.”

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