By Yakubu Temitope
The House of Representatives candidate for Ibadan North Federal constituency in Oyo state, Prince Musiliu Olaide Akinremi (Jagaban) on Saturday raised the alarm over threats to his life from a serving lawmaker in the State House of Assembly.
Akinremi, in a telephone conversation with journalists, pointedly accused a female lawmaker in the house of assembly of being the brain behind his current ordeal.
According to him, “it has been on for a while that some party elders and supporters privy to her clandestine moves to exterminate me or render me vegetative, have been warning me to be very careful of her antics.
“They (party leaders) went as far as telling me that she was in cahoot with a top law enforcement officer in the state to use judiciary to stop my candidature over an unfounded allegation but when that now fails, they resorted to other means of stopping me at all cost which I know God will never grant their wish over my life.
“As a believer that nothing happens without the consent of God, I keep waving it until this weekend when a top official of a Federal Government agency, who was approached if substitution of candidate’s name for National Assembly election in Ibadan North area of Oyo state was still possible (three weeks to the Presidential/National Assembly election) that I now realised that death is truly lurking.
“Unknowingly to the woman in question, the official she approached had had relationship with me for years outside the shore of Nigeria, where I had and still have considerable investments.
“The officer requested the particular constituency she was referring to in Oyo state and out of her folly, sorry desperation, she mentioned my name to him as a Rep candidate for Ibadan North. And the man probed her further and she claimed her name was initially submitted for the seat I am vying for, but changed the last minute in my favour.
“He said became so worried when she insisted that with just 20days, is it still possible to change my name that whatever it will cost, they are ready to make it happen.
“At that stage, I recall one of the elders’ statement that she was working on two possible fronts; to exterminate me or render me vegetative diabolically. And for your information, the said officer reportedly told me “why are you Yorubas so desperate and terrible that you can kill for ephemeral things (positions) that will surely go away with time?
“I wish to make it abundantly clear that I was never in contention with her. Her name was never submitted to the INEC. Records don’t lie. As a successful businessman with track records of service to humanity, I came home to contribute my quota to my fatherland, believing that our people need help to grow their businesses and make Ibadan a better place,” Akinremi added as he claimed all efforts to calm fraying nerves over his emergence was always met with brickwall with the said lawmaker.
Asked if had alerted the police and the department of state security services, Akinremi told the media not to worry, “because we are not sleeping over the matter.”
