Office of Nigerian governor candidate damaged in explosion

Apr 12, 2007, 19:59 GMT

Abuja - The campaign office of Olusegun Agagu, governor of Ondo State in Nigeria's southwest who is running for reelection on Saturday, was damaged in an explosion Thursday in Akure, the state capital.

Agagu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is one of 14 candidates vying for the post. The four-storey building was partly destroyed, with windows and doors shattered.

The Director-General of the 'Agagu 2007 campaign organisation,' Ola Oguntimehin, blamed the incident on a rival political party whose governorship candidate was the chief rival to Agagu.

But Kola Olabisi, spokesman for the rival party, charged that the explosion occurred because the PDP was sequestering arms and ammunition in its offices.

The premises of the secretariat was condoned off by armed policemen. The Deputy Commissioner of Police in the state, Joseph Awelewa, who visited the site after the explosion, declined comment.

The police bomb disposal unit at the scene warned there was a danger of more explosions.

Olabisi dismissed the idea that his party was involved in the attack as 'laughable' - especially after the organization had warned that the PDP was importing arms and acquiring fake police and army uniforms to intimidate voters on Saturday.

Olabisi cited the arrest earlier Thursday of a PDP member, Olu Falolu, a chairman of a council area who had been found with guns and ammunition in his official vehicle.

'The arrest of Falolu, two days before Saturday's governorship elections is a confirmation that the ruling party was moving the arms and ammunitions it acquired from their hideouts to destinations where they will be used,' he added.

A chieftain of the ruling PDP, Michael Adeyeye, was arrested for being in possession of two vehicles loaded with 42 rifles, pump action guns, axes and cutlasses at Akure, the Ondo State capital, two weeks ago.