The election contract secured from PDP by Brigadier-General Aliyu Momoh, the officer of the Nigerian Army who helped Governor Ayodele Fayose secure victory in the June 21 poll, has entered the third stage, as the infamous General led team of soldiers in Fayose’s convoy into Ado-Ekiti.
The military officer, whose voice was heard on Ekitigate tape talking about the “strike forces” he formed to intimidate Ekiti people in order to deliver Ekiti to PDP, had two weeks ago helped Fayose to turn back APC lawmakers on their way to Ado-Ekiti while coming to the state capital to conduct their plenary.
Earlier in the afternoon today, Fayose had made a statewide live broadcast practically instigating Ekiti people into violent attack against the APC lawmakers who he alleged were planning to “invade the state with thugs” to impeach him.
This was followed by public announcements on the state media by drivers and okada riders associations threatening violence against the lawmakers.
At dusk, soldiers in about ten hilux vans commanded by General Momah stormed Ado-Ekiti. They massed at the Governor’s Office gate where they were being tutored on their assignment by Fayose while General Momah watched.
It is disheartening that the senior officer has appointed himself as a hindrance and stumbling block to democratic practice in this country where he has made himself a willing tool in the hands of PDP partisans in the task of crippling our fledgling democracy.