Protest: I’m Ready To Honour Police Summon – Ben Bruce

Protest: I’m Ready To Honour Police Summon – Ben Bruce

A Nigerian senator has declared his willingness to honour a police invitation on his role in the Friday protest in Abuja.

Ben Murray-Bruce was among Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders who led a protest on Friday demanding that the PDP candidate in the Osun governorship election, Ademola Adeleke, be declared winner of the election.

They also demanded the removal of INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, from office.

Other PDP leaders involved in the protest include the party’s national chairman, Uche Secondus, Senate President Bukola Saraki and a senator, Dino Melaye.

During the protest, the lawmakers and a crowd of PDP supporters had face-off with the police in front of the force headquarters in Abuja.

But the police in a statement on Friday said Mr Saraki, Mr Melaye, Mr Murray-Bruce and others who participated in the protest should turn themselves in latest by Monday, October 8.

The police said they deployed “minimum force” in resisting an alleged attempt to break into the Force Headquarters by the protesters.

Speaking in an interview on Silverbird Television during the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) primaries in Port Harcourt on Saturday, Mr Murray-Bruce said it was a peaceful protest to express the party’s grievances on the Osun election.

“The summon is a party issue but after my meeting on Sunday, I will appear. I will love to appear if they ask me to appear 10 times a day or 55 times. I am a law abiding citizen, let them do whatever they want to do. It is all politics,” he said

According to him, the protest was recorded on video and so there is nothing to be afraid of.

The Osun State governorship election held on September 22 but was declared inconclusive because the margin between the PDP candidate and that of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was smaller than number of cancelled votes.

After the rerun in the seven units on September 27, the APC was declared winner by 462 votes and its candidate, Gboyega Oyetola, declared governor-elect, although several local and international observers reported anomalies in some of the units during the rerun.

INEC on Thursday presented Mr Oyetola the certificate of return while Mr Adeleke has filed a petition before the election tribunal set up by the judiciary.