SPN Thank All Our Supporters
Preliminary Statement on Osun Governorship Election
The Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN), Osun State wishes to appreciate all our members, supporters and those who voted for the party and its candidate, Barrister Alfred Adegoke, in the now inconclusive Governorship Election in Osun State that held on 22nd September, 2018. We saw this election as part of our continuing campaign to win the support of the Osun people to end the rule of anti-poor capitalist parties in the state and embrace the socialist banner. We are however proud of our brave intervention in this election and our modest vote of 391, given the enormous odds against us. As we had pointed out much before now, the elections had been rigged against small parties especially those like the SPN which has a pro-working people programme and does not have a war-chest of stolen funds to buy votes.
As a party, registered in about eight months to the election, we are happy that we were able to provide genuine socialist alternative to the capitalist rot disguised as governance in the state. The other parties just repeated fine sounding words which mean nothing. We were the only party that had clear programme of ending entrenched corruption in government, developing infrastructure and social services and improving the living and working conditions of the working people. No other political party promised to end jumbo emoluments of senior government officials; only SPN promised to place government officials on worker’s salary. No other political party promised to end fraudulent contract system that has become the conduit pipe for direct and indirect looting. No political party aside SPN promised to end fraudulent allocations such as security votes. It was only SPN that openly came in support of free and quality education and healthcare, and mass job provision starting with massive investment in social services.
The SPN contested against heavily-monetized politics, bias by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and an almost media blackout by pro-capitalist media organizations with exception of a few like Premium Times. The election witnessed unprecedented monetization and monetary inducement of voters by major bourgeois political parties, which have ill-gotten wealth to throw around. These parties “invest” in elections simply in order to open the door to further looting. Additionally, the INEC tried all means to sideline political parties like SPN. In fact, INEC looked the other way while major political parties continue to induce voters with money. No effort was made by INEC to check excessive monetization of the election as prescribed by the Election Act. Furthermore, most of the media organizations deliberately blacked out SPN, while providing the major bourgeois parties, whose contestants have been part and parcel of the rot that has defined governance in Nigeria, their platform, even against the prescribed rules by relevant agencies.
Despite all this, the SPN, with its lean resources, took the socialist campaign to many streets and towns across the state. That this did not translate to enough votes to dislodge the anti-poor, anti-worker government of Aregbesola/APC is a function of the aforementioned facts. We are however, convinced that our people, in the coming period, will liberate themselves from the shackles of poverty, misery and underdevelopment they are subjected to by capitalist ruling class. As a result, we shall not relent but continue to use every opportunity including the 2019 general elections to canvass for a socialist alternative and programme that will ensure that the resources of Osun state are utilized to turn around the lives of workers and ordinary people instead of corruption and profligacy of privileged few.
The tentative result of this election has shown the huge angst against the ruling but anti-poor APC and the Aregbesola government. However, the votes of the PDP, which had a slight margin over the APC, does not reflect the genuine wish of the people, who are tired of all corrupt politicians and their politics. Rather it shows that many voters could not see any clear difference between the APC and the PDP. This again confirms the need for a party like the SPN to continue to build and spread its ideas as far and as wide as possible because in the final analysis, only our programme can resolve the crisis facing the working and toiling people of Osun state.
We call on those who voted for us and supported our campaign, to take the bold decision to join the SPN as members and let us build a genuine political platform of the working people, youths and the masses. SPN will not join the corrupt moneybag and monetized politics. Rather, we will use the coming period to mobilize the working people and youth to fight against all anti-poor policies that will be launched by any of the two bourgeois parties, APC and PDP that emerge as winner from this election.
Signed
Kola Ibrahim
State Secretary
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