TheCable

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun says there is a plan to arrest some of its chieftains ahead of the governorship election.

The governorship election is scheduled to be held on Saturday.

Gboyega Oyetola, governor of Osun and All Progressives Congress (APC), will be up against Ademola Adeleke, candidate of the PDP.

In a statement on Thursday, Akindele Adekunle, chairman of PDP’s caretaker committee in Osun, called on the police not to be used by any political party.

“This advice became imperative as many of the names submitted to them for harassment are respected community leaders, who are historical leaders and are emotionally attached to their various communities,” Adekunle said.

“The state may not have good stories to tell afterwards but we believe the police have a choice to avoid the professional pitfall.

“Without doubt therefore, it will be a careless negligence of history and professional failure on the part of the police who are expected to take adequate profiling of the state and its constituents, before embarking on such suicidal mission.

The police will do well to dust their intelligence archives before firing a single shot of arrest at any PDP leader in Osun state.

“These are leaders with no dual face and who have no other place to call their home other than Osun after contributing so much to the development of the state. They are synonymous to their traditional communities. Harassing them is therefore an invitation to avoidable turmoil capable of spiralling out of hand, beyond the shores of Osun.”

The chairman said the PDP has been able to secure an order restraining the police and any other security agency from arresting any of its members ahead of the polls.