#Ekitigate: Channels TV Staff Help Tope Aluko Escape DSS Arrest – SIGNAL

Tope Aluko narrowly escaped arrest by officials of the

Department of State Security Services (DSS) who stormed

Channels Television office Sunday night, SIGNAL can report.

Mr. Aluko, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party

(PDP) in Ekiti State on Sunday night appeared on Politics

Today, a live TV programme on Channels Television where

he gave a breakdown of how the Ekiti State governorship

election was rigged in favour of the PDP governorship

candidate, now Governor, Ayodele Fayose.

Explaining a process he alleged was used in rigging the

election, he said: “Before the Primaries, we had this

believe that because Jonathan was coming out for second

term and because we are going to be the first election in

the south-west, at a meeting, we told him (former

President Goodluck Jonathan) that north-east, north-west

and north-central may not be too sure for him because the

Hausas are clamouring for presidency and that you now

have south-east and south-south, you must manage the

south-west”.

“It was on the basis of that that we told him that he must

manage south-west.

“Because of his interest, even before winning the

primaries, we did so many security reports to tell Mr

President then that he must make sure that we manage

south-west zone and it was because of that that he gave us

the head of security agencies,” Aluko said.

He further told Channels Television that the Minister for

State for Defence and Minister of Police Affairs were made

to give attention to the election because “we know that

APC was everywhere in the southwest and we must

naturally capture part of southwest if we want to balance

what our brothers in the north were likely to bring on”.

Mr Aluko had testified at a lower Tribunal held to look

into the election held last year, but he denied saying at the

lower Tribunal that the election was not rigged.

He said that there was an agreement to take out some

members of the All Progressive Congress to ensure that

they do not give adequate support to their members. The

incumbent Governor was an APC member.

“There was a strike team, a mixture of the DSS, military,

the mobile police… that is about all.

“We had a meeting at Aso Rock on security and funds. We

were given security and funds.

He listed the persons at the meeting to include the

Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces the former PDP

chairman, Adamu Mu’azu, Governor Fayose and himself

(Aluko).

“At the meeting President Jonathan agreed that if he

needed Ekiti, he would support us to ensure that we

delivered.

“At the second meeting we had Obanikoro, Jelili, Omisore…

It was a combination of Osun and Ekiti people and they

were discussing how we were going to move to take the

south-west.

“Before the primaries, His Excellency, Ayodele Fayose, said

that we can only win using the military.

“Then we came up with a plan about May,” he alleged.

When asked if his revelations were not a betrayal to

Governor Fayose, who was his ally, he said there were not

a betrayal, insisting that Governor Fayose betrayed him

first after they swore by the bible on some agreements

reached.

“We swore on the arrangement that we had before we

embarked on the political venture.

“Him (Fayose) becoming the Governor, myself becoming

Chief of Staff and Honourable Femi Bamisile becoming the

Deputy Governor,” he explained, dismissing claims that he

was coming out with the truth because he could not get

what was agreed.

“For the military to indict its members because of the

election of a state you will know that what I am saying is

not a lie.”

He referred to a leaked audio mentioned by a military

official that was at a meeting he attended, which was

subsequently leaked on the internet, saying it was genuine

and not doctored.

Mr Aluko also said that some monies in hard currency

were giving as the funding for the Ekiti governorship

election.

“That was the money given to the strike team. It was One

million per Hilux van per day and they worked for three

days,” he said, giving the sum as 132 million Naira.

In the course of the TV programme, operatives of the DSS

stormed the Channels TV studio. Initially, it was not clear

why they came. A source who witnessed their arrival

disclosed the incident to SIGNAL Sunday night.

Further investigations on Monday revealed that the DSS

operatives had arrived the Channels TV headquarters to

effect the arrest of Mr. Aluko over the damning allegations he

made in the course of the programme.

According to a Channels TV staff who did not want to be

named, “They came to arrest Aluko but we told them he had

left the building. So they drove into the night possibly to

track him down. After they had left, we had to secretly

smuggle him out of the building in disguise”, the source

disclosed to this newspaper.

Aluko’s revelations on Sunday make him a material

witness in investigations surrounding allegations that the

Ekiti governorship election was rigged despite

commendation from the US State Department that the

process was fair.

Meanwhile, countering Mr Aluko’s claims, spokesperson to

the Governor of Ekiti State, Lere Olayinka, said he was not

surprised that Mr Aluko would make such claims, insisting

that he (Aluko) was of an unstable character.

He further claimed that Mr Aluko had been involved in

different crimes, ranging from admission racketeering,

issuance of certificates to students while he was a lecturer.

Source:- Signal NG