Politics

PDP offered Me N500m To Rig Osun Gov Election in 2014-Ondo REC

Published

10 years ago

November 6, 2016

The Resident Electoral Commissioner in Ondo State, Mr. Olusegun Agbaje, has revealed many attempt and temptation to compromise his integrity by politicians, especially members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

According to Agbaje, he was offered N500 million to rig the last governorship election in Osun State in favour of the PDP’s candidate, Senator Iyiola Omisore when he was serving as the state REC in 2014.

Ondo State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr Olusegun Agbaje

He said he rejected the money, which he said was brought in a van at night by certain chieftains of the PDP.

The Ondo REC, who said he was a former Director of the Department of State Service, DSS, revealed the money was offered to him at the IBB Golf Course in Abuja, after one of his former colleagues in the DSS, hoodwinked him into following him to the venue.

Agbaje spoke at a dialogue session with a coalition of over 60 Civil Society Organisations, CSOs, led by the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre, PLAC, on Saturday.

He said: One of my colleagues “picked” me at the end of a conference I attended in Abuja and took me to the meeting where the bribe was allegedly offered. I was shocked and immediately berated my friend.”

“I told them that all my children have been trained and they are all married. I have a house in Lagos and another in Ekiti where I come from. So I don’t know what I will use money for at this age. I told them politely that I would not be part of their deal.”

Denying the bribery allegation made against him by the PDP candidate for the November 26, 2016 governorship election in Ondo State, Mr. Jimoh Ibrahim, Agbaje maintained that Ibrahim came after him when he turned down his (Ibrahim) request to meet him in London.

Ibrahim, according to Agbaje, approached him through one of his friends who is currently residing in London.

Besides, the REC said he had repeatedly spurned invitations from a serving governor, who wanted to compromise him on the forthcoming election.

He said: “So it baffles me now to see allegations being raised against me. I have never met Jimoh Ibrahim in my life. I have never spoken with him in my life. There is one of my friends, an old friend, Mr. Austin Obiagwu who was a former Managing Director of Broad Bank which later merged with Union Bank. He called me sometimes in April this year and said Segun how now, long time! He said when will I come to London, that he has been there for some time. I said ok, that I might be in London later in that April for the ceremony of one of my children and that I will see him then.

“He then told me that there is a friend of his that would want to meet me and that his name is Jimoh Ibrahim. I think he said he was in Accord Party. Either Accord or Alliance Party, I can’t remember. That was in April this year; he was certainly not in PDP then.

“I told my friend that I don’t know him (Ibrahim) and that I have never met him in my life and that I don’t think it is proper for me to see him because I made it a personal policy not to have such interaction with politicians.’’

“These are some of the circumstances in which I found myself in the past. I was so much flabbergasted when I was reading Punch of upper Sunday and saw that Jimoh Ibrahim mentioned a lot of things against me. I have written to my Chairman on this whole issue to clear my name, as well as asked for two prayers- to address the press and to also go to court. The Chairman has approved the two. ”

“Ladies and gentlemen, I have never met Jimoh Ibrahim before, the allegations are false and at the appointed time I will take action. Like I said, politicians think that they can always buy everybody, but I told them that the Chairman did not send me to Akure to go and be in favour of a particular candidate.”