- calls for peaceful conduct as party holds Wards, LGAs congresses
Ondo State Governor Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa has distanced himself from the crisis that rocked the state secretariat of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), in Akure, the state capital, on Tuesday.
Some political thugs had reportedly invaded the party’s state secretariat in Akure, venue of a proposed meeting of the party’s stakeholders, and attacked the party’s chairman, Ade Adetimehin and some other leaders, with accusing fingers pointed at the governor.
Reportedly, the thugs injured Adetimehin, and others including a former Deputy Speaker, Abayomi Akinruntan; former chairman of Ile-Oluji/Okeigbo local government, Dayo Akinsuroju; former Commissioner, Saka-Yusuf Ogunleye; member representing the state on the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Otito Atikase; former lawmaker, Success Torhukerhojo; and APC chairman’s driver, Friday Ogbaide,
The party’s chieftains reportedly accused the governor of sponsoring the attacks.
But the governor has absolved himself, saying he was not involved in the attacks.
Aiyedatiwa, who spoke after the reconvened stakeholders’ meeting, described APC is a family, and he could not have authorised the beating or injury of family members who were gathered for a meeting.
Indeed, the governor, who led party leaders from across the state to the stakeholders’ meeting with members of APC congress committees from the national secretariat, described the attack as the handiwork of “miscreants” with vested interests in the party’s Wednesday ward congresses.
Addressing journalists after the stakeholders’ meeting, the governor said an earlier plan for a 10 a.m. meeting on Tuesday was never finalised, noting that he had requested that the meeting be shifted to 2 p.m. to enable him and other top officials, including the Speaker and Deputy Governor, to attend.
Stressing his commitment to due process and denying any hostility towards the congresses, the governor attributed the violence to factional disputes over candidacy. He said the earlier incident involved rival supporters and was not an officially sanctioned party meeting.
Fielding questions from journalists after the stakeholders’ meeting on Tuesday, the governor gave a vivid explanation about the crisis that led to the reported attack earlier in the day.
His words: “Earlier today, like I said during my brief remarks at the stakeholders’ meeting that had just ended, at about 11 a.m., I got a call from the party chairman that is Ade Adetimehin, that there was going to be stakeholders’ meeting, which I also approved.
“But I told them it should be fixed for 2 p.m. because I was attending the 50th birthday of one of the stakeholders, who is a cabinet member of our party. I said the meeting should be fixed for about 2 p.m.
“Normally, we have stakeholders’ meetings, and as the governor, I am always in attendance, alongside the Speaker and the Deputy Governor. All of us are always present at every stakeholders’ meeting.
“In the first quarter of this year, we had one in January before the anniversary of the state. We had 60 people per local government. But this one was an impromptu stakeholders’ meeting because of the congresses at the ward and local government levels.
“The meeting was shifted to 2 p.m. because it was initially fixed for 10 a.m., and I said I would not be able to make it at that time.
“Later on, I got a call from one of them saying there were some problems around, or some miscreants around the party secretariat. I asked him to call the Commissioner of Police, and I also called the Commissioner of Police myself to ensure the place was protected because I was going to attend the meeting. I asked that security operatives be deployed to protect the place.
“Later, I got to know that some miscreants who had sympathy for one aspirant or the other, those who are contesting for one position or the other, were moving around and trying to create some kind of fracas among themselves, which led to some disturbance.
“The police assured that they would be able to protect everybody, and they were deployed. In fact, the secretariat was secured by the police before we arrived for the stakeholders’ meeting.
“We had a peaceful stakeholders’ meeting thereafter because the miscreants had been chased away by the police.”
On whether what the party chairman and others had in the morning was not a stakeholders meeting, the governor said it wasn’t a stakeholders meeting.
He said: “It wasn’t a stakeholders meeting. They were just trying to gather. This is the stakeholders’ meeting that was shifted to 2 p.m because I told the chairman to shift it to 2 pm, but he said he had initially sent a message for 10 a.m.
“But at about 11 a.m., that was when he called me. People were just about to arrive when those supporters, the miscreants supporting one interest or the other, were hanging around the secretariat.
“You can see the way I am dressed. You can check. I was at the 50th birthday celebration of one of the stakeholders, who was also supposed to be here. Most of the stakeholders were at the party. That was why we asked to shift the meeting to 2 p.m. The Speaker was there as well. We moved from there to this place and then had the stakeholders’ meeting.
“Yes, we had briefed the police ahead of time. I had a meeting with the Commissioner of Police and the Director of DSS that we were having congresses and that the main congress is tomorrow. They had already briefed security and informed their men across the state. The CP was personally present.
“When I called the CP, he told me that the party chairman had already called him. They deployed immediately. So it was not a case of any meeting going on at the time. The miscreants were just making noise around the secretariat, according to information from the chairman. As I called the CP to inform him that I was going to the event, he confirmed that the party chairman had already contacted him.”
Party leaders present at the stakeholders’ meeting included the Deputy Governor, Dr. Olayide Adelami, former Senator Ayo Akinyelure, former members of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ade Adeogun and Hon. Tajudeen Adefisoye, and members of the House of Assembly.
Earlier, the Ward Congress Committee, led by Margaret Aruruenu (Chairman) and Smart Iheazor (Secretary), briefed party leaders on preparations for the congresses, assuring that the exercise would be conducted in line with party guidelines and the APC constitution.
Party leaders Tolu Babaleye (North), Ifedayo Abegunde (Central) and Ola Oguntimehin (South) praised the peaceful conduct of the screening exercise.
Also speaking, the Speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly, Olamide Oladiji, commended the congress committees and assured that the exercise would remain peaceful across the state.”
The governor, however, said he has directed the Commissioner of Police and Director of the Department of State Security (DSS) to ensure the peaceful conduct of congresses being held in different parts of the state today to elect officials at the grassroots level
He called on members of the party in the state to conduct themselves peacefully as the party holds its Congress across the 203 wards in the 18 local government areas of the state today (Wednesday).
The governor made the call on Tuesday during the stakeholders’ meeting with party leaders from the state and members of the congress committees from the national secretariat of the party held at the state Secretariat of the party in Akure.
Aiyedatiwa, who appreciated members of the Screening and Screening Appeal committees for the transparent manner in which they handled their activities, urged the Congress and Congress Appeals Committees to follow the same path in conducting a credible exercise in the 203 wards in the state.
He appealed to members of the party to complement the efforts of the national committees by conducting themselves peacefully during the Congress across the 203 wards in the state.
Meanwhile, at the stakeholders’ meeting, the Ward Congress Committee, led by Chief Margaret Aruruenu (Chairman) and Barrister Smart Iheazor (Secretary), briefed the party leaders on the preparations for the exercise.
They assured the party leaders that the various Congress Committees will perform their duties in line with the set guidelines and the constitution of the party.
Members of the three other committees from the national secretariat – Screening Committee, Screening Appeals Committee, and Congree Appeals Committee – were also present at the meeting.
Three leaders of the party (Barrister Tolu Babaleye from the Northern senatorial district, Hon. Ifedayo Abegunde from the Central senatorial district, and Hon. Ola Oguntimehin from Southern senatorial district), who spoke at the stakeholders’ meeting, commended the national delegation for the peaceful conduct of the Screening exercise, promising that party members in the state would conduct themselves peacefully during the Congress.
Likewise, the Speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly, Rt Hon Olamide Oladiji, commended the efforts of the congress committees so far and assured them that the exercise would be peaceful across the state
