The Ogun State governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ladi Adebutu, has recounted how an ad-hoc staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was killed for refusing to rig during the March 18 elections in the state.
The INEC official, Emmanuel Adeniran, was reportedly killed by some hoodlums when he refused to alter the results of the governorship and House of Assembly polls in the Ogijo area of Sagamu Local Government.
Adebutu, who visited the family of the late Adeniran, said he left behind his wife and three young children.
The PDP candidate spoke at a meeting of the Conference of Political Parties for Good Governance in Ogun State, held in Abeokuta.
The farmer, who described the man as an upright person, condemned the killing and violence that characterised the election, saying leadership should not be do or die.
He added that the man was smart enough to have uploaded the results on the INEC Results Viewing (IREV) portal, regretting, however, that he paid with his life.
His words: “One of the INEC officials in Ogijo refused to rig for APC in Ogijo, because we kept on saying Ogijo will get a border community development agency. The man, an indigene of Ogijo refused to rig for them, they killed him, APC killed him!, all because of this election.
“The man refused to rig, so they killed him; a man with three young children. I went there, you need to see that widow and the three children. Luckily, the man was smart enough, a lot of those results have been uploaded, but he still paid with his life.”
Adebutu asked Nigerians not to blame INEC as an institution for the anomalies in the last election, saying individuals who orchestrated the riggings should be fished out to face the law.
“The bad eggs in INEC, God will punish them for subverting the wishes of the people,” he said.
He asked the Ogun people to remain calm, saying everything about the elections is already before the election petition tribunal.