As the gubernatorial election in Osun draws nearer,we are faced with the strategy of amala, or food politics being engaged in Osun state. This time though, not amala but rice have triggered a war of accusations and counter accusations between the main two contending political parties, as the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state on Saturday accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of allegedly planning to distribute expired rice to the electorate.
In a release issued by the director of publicity, research and strategy of the APC, Mr Kunle Oyatomi, the party said the “citizens of Osun have been warned that the PDP in collaboration with the Nigerian Customs warehouse in Ikeja have loaded trailers filled with thousands of bags of expired rice”, which would be shared to the people.
According to the release, “the consignment of rice confiscated several months ago from smugglers are being brought to Osun for distribution to voters”.
Reacting to the accusation, the standard-bearer of the PDP in the forthcoming governorship poll, Senator Iyiola Omisore, described the development as “the manifestation of the discreet plan of the APC to poison Osun people through the distribution of expired food items”.
In a statement authorised by his Director of Media and Strategy, Prince Diran Odeyemi, he asserted that “the APC is accusing us of what it is doing. It was APC that actually imported the confiscated rice into the country. They are in the habit of accusing us of their misdeeds and mischief as a way of covering up their tracks and everyone is aware of concocted lies and propaganda. August 9 is the end of all the mess of the APC in Osun”.
This is certainly not the end of the tussle between these main contenders, and we most certainly are going to see a tough fight as August 9 draws near. 