Captain Sagir Koli of the 32nd Artillery Brigade in
Ekiti State, who released an audio recording
which purportedly has the voice of the then
Peoples Democratic Party’s candidate, Ayo
Fayose, in the June 21 governorship election and
others meeting on how to allegedly rig the
election, on Saturday, insisted the clip was
authentic.
In an interview by Sahara TV which was
monitored by SUNDAY PUNCH, Koli narrated how
soldiers were allegedly deployed in Ekiti to
manipulate the poll in favour of the ruling party.
The recording purportedly captured Fayose; Brig.-
Gen. Aliyu Momoh, who was in charge of the
election; Osun PDP governorship candidate,
Senator Iyiola Omisore; Minister for Police
Affairs, Jelili Adesinyan; and former Minister of
State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro, in a
meeting where they allegedly gave directives to
the military to favour the PDP.
He stated that none of Fayose, Obanikoro and
other Peoples Democratic Party leaders could
deny being at the meeting.
Fayose, Obanikoro and Omisore however, denied
both the meeting and the voices in the audio
clip.
The Army captain, who has been on self exile
after he released the audio tape, said he was
ready to testify against those at the meeting
should they file a suit in court.
He also said, “It came as a surprise to us. Three
weeks to the election, Brig.-Gen. (Aliyu) Momoh
was brought in. When he came, he asked us to
work with him. When we entered Ekiti State, we
started to see a different thing. The commander
said this is his direction and we had to follow
him.
“He said he was working for the Presidency. He
said it categorically. ‘Look, I’m working for the
Presidency and anything I am doing, follow my
directions. That was what necessitated the
compromise in the election.
“The commander asked all the troops to work
with Peoples Democratic Party thugs to make
sure that his given assignment was done.”
Koli said he played an advisory role in the
election as an intelligence officer. He said there
were tactical commanders on ground who
covered the 16 local government areas of the
state.
“Each local government area was assigned a
major or a captain, with soldiers to cover those
areas adequately. Those tactical commanders
were given specific directives on what to do. The
PDP and its teams had what they called
‘contacts’; they were PDP supporters and thugs.
“What the commanders were ordered to do was
to work directly with those contacts and make
sure that whatever those contacts wanted, they
should do it. That was the directive. After giving
the directive, we moved round the 16 LGAs to
ensure compliance by the tactical commanders,”
he said.
He added, “They (security operatives) were
assembled at the Forward Operational Base
adjacent the Ekiti State Government House. He
(Fayose) was given a task force. The task force
was composed of military components, the
Police, Mobile Police Force and security
operatives from the DSS (Department of State
Security). They were asked to go and work with
the PDP contacts in the 16 LGAs.
“Additionally, a sticker was designed and a hand
band. On election days, ordinarily and
constitutionally, we restrict movements from
06:00 to 18:00 hours. Those stickers were given
to PDP supporters; that anybody or any vehicle
seen with that sticker should be allowed
unlimited access on the Election Day, and that
was what was done.”
Speaking with SUNDAY PUNCH, Adesiyan on
Saturday admitted that there was a conversation
but it was at a scene in Ado-Ekiti, when Fayose
and the General engaged in an altercation which
almost resulted in a fight.
He explained that the General was accused of
being bribed by Governor Kayode Fayemi and the
All Progressives Congress, which led to a heated
argument between him (the general) and Fayose.
Adesiyan said, “Nigerians are not dummies.
These people are mischievous; somebody
recorded the scene but let everybody listen to it.
Listen to it yourself and get back to me.
“Fayose accused the General who supervised the
Ekiti election of taking bribe from Fayemi and
APC, that was two days before the election.
They called me because they said the General
disarmed policemen and I told him to allow the
policemen to do their job.
“I was there, Fayose was there, Otunba Omisore
was there, Senator Obanikoro was there. I am
not denying that there was a conversation but it
was not what they are saying.”
Omisore also debunked the allegation of rigging,
saying it was an attempt by the APC to tarnish
his image.
The media aide to the Osun PDP governorship
candidate, Mr. Victor Oriola, made the denial on
his principal’s behalf in a response to SUNDAY
PUNCH’s inquiry on Saturday.
Omisore’s response read in parts, “In order to set
the record straight, we say empathically that the
offensive YouTube (audio) was unfounded and
meant to hoodwink the unwary and portray the
PDP and its leaders across the South West in a
bad light.
“How did Omisore and those mentioned in the
YouTube (audio) rig election when all the
stakeholders in Ekiti voted for Fayose? Initially,
the APC claimed it was stomach infrastructure
that won the people’s mandate for Fayose. When
that would not fly, they say it was photo-
chromic rigging.
“Now, it is army and police who were
coordinated to rig for Fayose, what balderdash!”
Again on Saturday, Fayose dismissed the audio.
His Special Assistant on Public Communications
and New Media, Mr. Lere Olayinka, said the
governor had no time for frivolities and was
more interested in bringing good governance to
the people.
He said, “We are not interested in this media
hype. If they (APC) have such evidence, they
know where to go.
“If you, as a military officer, have such
information, is it the opposition that you go to?
“The tribunal is there. They can go to the appeal
court and file fresh evidence, if it would work for
them.
“All this noise shows they don’t know what they
are doing. We are not interested in this trash
because the video is a fake. Where is the military
officer? Does that Captain Koli exist?
“They should provide evidence that PDP
members were given special stickers and hand
bands.”
A source close to Obanikoro said on Saturday
the former minister would no longer respond to
the allegations about his alleged involvement in
the rigging of the June 21 Ekiti governorship
election which was purportedly recorded on tape.
When one of our correspondents called
Obanikoro on the telephone on Saturday, his
phone rang out while a text message was not
responded to.
Also, a text message and phone call made to his
media aide, Ohimai Amaize, were not responded
to.
However, the source close to the former minister
told our correspondent on the condition of
anonymity that Obanikoro was being careful
because he had just been nominated as minister
by President Goodluck Jonathan.
The source said Obanikoro was to be screened
by the Senate on February 16 and the allegation
could affect his chances.
Repeated calls made to the Acting Director,
Public Relations of the Nigerian Army, Col. Sani
Usman, on Saturday were not successful.
The calls to his mobile telephone line did not
connect. Also, Sani had yet to respond to a text
message sent to him on the issue as of the time
of filing this report on Saturday night.
However, an intelligence source said the 15-year
old brother of Koli, who was reported to have
been tortured by military operatives, had since
been released and was not in custody of the
Army.
The source said, “I can tell you that the boy is
not being detained; he was released long ago.
So it is not right to say that he is in custody of
the Army.”
