The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused Governor Ademola Adeleke of lacking the moral right to call for the arrest of Senator Francis Fadahunsi over a statement allegedly attributed to him regarding the Accord Party.
The party, in a statement signed by its Director of Media and Information, Kola Olabisi, on Wednesday, described the statement credited to Fadahunsi as “doctored” and taken out of context.
The APC was reacting to concerns raised by the Accord Party over an alleged statement credited to Fadahunsi suggesting that APC members should “kill” members of the Accord Party.
The party said, “Inasmuch as we, as a party, do not support jungle justice for whatever reason, we are stating unequivocally that the accusation of the Accord Party functionaries in this regard was borne out of the desperation of the players of the relatively unknown political party to act maliciously against the highly respected and peace-loving federal lawmaker under the guise of playing politics.”
The APC also accused Adeleke of using the controversy to settle political scores, alleging that the governor was still unhappy with Fadahunsi’s defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
According to the party, “It was crystal clear that the governor and his co-travellers are still nursing the pain of the defection of Senator Fadahunsi from the Peoples Democratic Party.”
The APC further linked the development to the recent adoption of its governorship candidate, Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji, by prominent PDP figures, including former Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola, former Secretary to the State Government, Fatai Akinbade, and former PDP South-West Deputy Chairman, Tajudeen Oladipo.
The party said the endorsements were among the reasons it believed the governor was under pressure ahead of Saturday’s election.
“The trio of Oyinlola, Akinbade, Oladipo are super active stakeholders of the PDP in Osun State who had removed the metaphorical carpet of the party that Adeleke had been banking on its use for its re-election bid under the Accord.”the statement stated
The APC further alleged that the governor was becoming increasingly desperate ahead of the election.
“Based on the recently developed hostile actions and inactions of the visibly embattled Governor Adeleke, it is not a gainsaying to observe and conclude that desperation has crept into his political dictionary and the fear of his imminent loss of the Saturday’s governorship election is now dawning on him,” the party said.
The party urged Adeleke to stop focusing on Fadahunsi and instead address the challenges confronting the state.
“The rattled Governor Adeleke should leave Senator Fadahunsi alone and stop acting on his quotation out of context and face the myriads of the socio-political and economic problems that his incompetence has attracted to the state,” the statement stated
The APC also accused Adeleke of failing to condemn alleged killings of its members and supporters in Ijesaland.
It said, “It is worrisome why it has been pretty difficult for the self-acclaimed chief security officer of the state to condemn the ongoing extra-judicial killings of the innocent members and supporters of the APC in Ijesaland but strangely swift in making a political capital from Senator Fadahunsi’s statement being quoted out of context.”
The party maintained that the electorate would ultimately determine the winner of the August 15 governorship election, while expressing confidence in its candidate.