By Banji Ayoola
Ondo State Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu has condemned an advertorial jointly signed and placed by a former Senator and Minister of State for Niger Delta, Chief Tayo Alasoadura, and the out-going Deputy Majority Leader in the Senate, Senator Ajayi Boroffice, accusing him of engaging in alleged anti-party activities.
The duo, in the said advertorial, had reportedly criticized the governor for challenging alleged injustice in the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
But Akeredolu, in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Special Duties & Strategy, Dr. Doyin Odebowale, titled “Hustling till Twilight: A sad tale of unrepentant misanthropes”, deplored what he described as “the manifest treachery of the same elements who devised all manner of subterfuge to stop the eventual winner of the presidential primary and President-Elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”
He said: “While right-thinking people, especially committed members of the All Progressives Party, APC, should not begrudge these old men for floating an NGO to bolster their dwindling political relevance named TIAM, a ludicrous acronym for “Tinubu Independent Action Movement”, those who may not know the facts concerning the skewed narratives in their advertorial must be availed of the opportunity.
“The Governor of Ondo State, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, CON, has left no one in doubt that he will always challenge any act which suggests injustice or impropriety from any quarters. He has never been apologetic for standing by the people when others try to be politically correct. He has been a strong party man who has never failed to stand against all partisans of injustice.
“It is not a recompense for political grandstanding that the people of Ondo, South West, and indeed the entire South, in general, consider him the conscience of the country. He is not the type to play to the gallery in order to please any fleeting and parochial interests.
“That Aketi is the epitome of courage is readily discernible in his numerous and impactful interventions at critical moments in the polity, starting from his days as the President of the Nigerian Bar Association. He became the alternate President of the country when President Umaru Yar Adua, GCFR, was seriously sick and the Vice President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, GCFR, was not permitted to act in his absence.
“Aketi mobilized the NBA and Nigerians to resist that attempt at treason. The quiescent and acquiescent National Assembly came up with the ingenuous coinage, “Doctrine of Necessity” to escape the charge of connivance and collaboration with the cabal. Nigerians have not forgotten.”
According to the statement: “The Governor had contested the 2016 APC gubernatorial primary and the State elections as a fiercely independent candidate who would not compromise principles for any reason. The message holds that no serious person underrates a consummate Bar politician, as he, was well delivered to and received by all concerned.
“Never again will anyone treat that quintessential brand for courage, decency, honesty, resilience, and resistance with contempt. These characters were active participants in that period. They were witnesses to how Aketi checkmated hubris and overweening pride. He has since moved on.
“It is true that Aketi stood against the crude imposition of candidates by the former leadership of the party. Professor Boroffice was a major beneficiary of the various acts of impunity at that time. Chief Alasoadura acts as an ingrate feigning deliberate amnesia as regards the role played by the Governor to ensure his re-election to the Senate. Having been rejected by the party leaders of Ward 5, his immediate political base comprising 23 units, for his selfish and divisive disposition, the Governor appealed to all and sundry to allow him to go back to the Senate in 2019.
“While many candidates, elected by the party, had their names substituted at Abuja, Alasoadura’s name was retained. His people waited to show how resolute they were in distancing themselves from ineptitude, greed, and ingratitude. He lost, woefully, in spite of the spirited efforts made by the Governor.
“The Governor nominated him to become a federal minister to cover his shame, believing he would use the opportunity to redeem himself among his people. He not only alienated himself from his people, he acted in a manner that suggested that he was waging a war against them and the State.”
It said: “The man Aketi does not need any introduction in Nigeria at present. His name is synonymous with forthrightness and courage, not treachery. He has been a relentless advocate for the downtrodden. He is not known for prevarication or equivocation. He fought the FG for the establishment of the Regional Security outfit codenamed AMOTEKUN to combat the menace of insecurity.
“He has been speaking against any policies of this government, perceived inimical to the well-being of the people. He joined some other Governors to sue the Federal Government on the CBN currency confiscation policy, only recently. Prof Boroffice did not have any opinion while Chief Alasoadura must have jubilated in the mistaken belief that the evil design would affect the chances of the President-Elect. They both worked, assiduously, for the PDP during the last general elections.
“Aketi had insisted on a power shift to the South. He also campaigned, vigorously, for the election of the President-Elect and other candidates of his party. It is on record that he was the only one who spoke out, vehemently, against the treacherous selection of Senator Ahmed Lawan, the current Senate President, as the so-called “Consensus Candidate”, during the last presidential primary of the APC by the same heavily tainted leadership.
“Workers of iniquity, mass murderers, visited the Catholic church at Owo the following morning. Not a few people believed the message was meant for Aketi and the hardliners. He remained undaunted. Who did the duo support at that time? What was their position at the primary?
“The Governor is not known to hide behind a finger. He says it as it is. His principled stance on the Southern presidency is well publicized. His support for the candidate who emerged as the winner is supported by verifiable evidence. His performance as the Chief Servant of the people was a deciding factor in the last election. The people of Ondo State have always acted on conviction.
“His clear choice and support for the President-Elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was well documented. Any honest person was convinced of his role.”
The statement added: “The attempt to twist notorious facts is not only puerile and laughable. It portrays the purveyors of this shameless mendacity as individuals who can hardly survive outside politics. I find this press release ludicrous. It symbolizes the desperation of shameless and greedy entities whose mediocrities are a direct source of the deplorable state of affairs in the country today.
“The people of Ondo State know these characters very well. They have lost relevance, considerably, in the political circle, both at home and at the national level. The electoral misfortunes trailing their predilections for avarice and myopia are established facts. The President-Elect appears to be the next target of a rapacious band of obsolescent but relentless elements, rootless politically, yet ruthlessly parasitic.
“Let it be known to these bitter adversaries that the Governor of Ondo State, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi O. Akeredolu, SAN, CON, will continue to challenge any acts considered unjust, inequitable, and indecent.
“As the Chairman of the South West Governors’ Forum, he has led the platform to play pivotal roles in social engineering regardless of the fact that his party controls the government at the centre. His role as the leader of the Southern Governors’ Forum will be remembered as a stabilizing factor when it mattered in the polity.
“Deliberative governance entails wide consultations, engagements, concessions, and agreements. No one will be permitted to elevate hypocrisy and sycophancy to the status of an enviable art.
“The President-Elect will be advised but will also be engaged, vigorously, on matters of optimum performance and collective interests by the true representatives of the people of this country. Any politician anxious about losing patronage in the next dispensation should start looking for other means of sustenance.
“Politics should not be a profession. Aketi has a viable second address. Let all those who have burnt their boats on the country’s political island worry about the possibility of being marooned as the Adventurer sets sail to find new treasures.
“He will continue to be unsparing and forceful in pushing his viewpoints. To him, sycophancy is not a virtue. It has never been an option. He is a product of tradition. People of his pedigree are few in this clime.”
