By Oluwakemi Ishola
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo state has faulted the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Governor Seyi Makinde over claims that they had defeated godfatherism in the politics of the state saying the statement was not only a diversionary but an height of insincerity and hypocrisy.
Oyo PDP said, in a statement on Monday while reacting to the declaration of Gov. Godwin Obaseki as the winner of last Saturday gubernatorial poll in Edo state, that the reelected governor had copied Makinde in defeating godfathers and entrenching himself as the de facto political leader in the state.
In a statement issued on Monday and made available to journalists in Ibadan by its Assistant Publicity Secretary, Prince Ayobami Adejumo, Oyo APC expressed worries over what it described as Oyo PDP and Gov. Makinde’s penchant for pettiness and misplaced priorities to the detriment of the people of the state who desire good governance and seriousness on the part of those at the helm of affairs.
“As much as we refrain from commenting on what transpired in Edo state last Saturday which, of course, is still being reviewed by the national leadership of our great Party, we feel highly concerned about a governor from a state which is several hundreds of kilometers away from the South South geopolitical zone asking his lackeys at home to gloat over the purported victory of another man who only joined the PDP to contest the election for some reasons.
“Although, discerning minds are aware of the fact that Gov. Makinde’s frequent claims of conquering godfathers could not be farfetched from his desire to do away with all the forces that helped him to office in 2019 even as we do not want to comment on the current battle for the soul of PDP in the South West between Gov. Makinde and a former PDP governor from Ekiti state. We still find it uncharitable for the PDP governor to prioritize all attempts aimed at denigrating his benefactors so soon without minding the consequences.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the whole world cannot forget in a hurry what happened in the state between 2003 and 2011 when the same PDP hijacked governance from the then AD government only for the Senator Ladoja to start up serious warfare with his godfathers and thus set the state on ceaseless fire for more than four years. If anything, the incumbent governor’s ultimate desire is to turn himself an emperor of the South West through his party.
“We have been made to see how he does not recognise the leadership of the PDP in the state as most of the founding fathers of the party have been relegated to the background. We have equally witnessed how he outplayed most of his strong backers with the formation of a spineless Government Advisory Council (GAC) and what happened to the eggheads of the unholy coalition with which he made it to the Agodi Government House. We can only wish him good luck if he and his hangers-on feel treachery and betrayals are what it takes to establish political hegemony.” Adejumo stated.
In the same vein, Oyo APC has warned Governor Rotimi Akeredolu and the APC in Ondo state to watch well and reject the moves by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from using card readers from Oyo state office for the conduct of the October 10, 2020 gubernatorial election in the Sunshine state. APC based its warning on the alleged culpability of the INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioner for Oyo state in its ouster from office in 2019.
“We are still working on some facts which support the involvement of the REC in Oyo state in the conspiracy which made us lose the last gubernatorial and Houses of Assembly elections and we do not want similar fate to befall our Party in Ondo. Arrangement by INEC in Ondo state to make use of card readers from Oyo state office must not be allowed unless we are prepared to allow the PDP rig our party out again. Oyo is not even a neighbour to Ondo state and Ondo INEC should be made to look elsewhere for any support or assistance on the conduct of October 10 poll.” APC submitted.
