The opposition All Progressives Congress, APC, in Osun State has denied link to the alleged assassination attempt on the Ataojan of Osogbo, Oba Jimoh Oyetunji.
It lambasted Governor Ademola Adeleke over his allegation linking the party to an alleged attack on the monarch.
The Governor had in his X handle on Sunday, blamed the APC for the said alleged assassination attempt on the monarch and tasked the Inspector General of Police to probe the said incident.
Also, the monarch, at an endorsement programme by spare parts sellers in the state capital on Saturday, claimed that the said gunmen stormed his palace and shot at his workers.
Speaking in Yoruba in a short video sighted on social media at the event, the Ataoja did not mention that the gunmen were sponsored by any political party, but claimed that the details of what transpired were documented at the Osun State University Teaching Hospital.
Addressing reporters on Sunday, the APC leadership in Osogbo through former deputy speaker of the state House of Assembly, Akintunde Adegboye, berated the Ataoja for allegedly being partisan again rather than being a father to all.
He said, “We, the leaders of APC in Osogbo, are here with the deepest sense of responsibility that we are addressing the public today. We are bona fide indigenes of Osogbo, and we are concerned with her development.
“We expected that His Royal Majesty, the Ataoja of Osogbo, Oba Jimoh Oyetunji, should rise above partisanship and be a father to all, irrespective of political affiliation. But, as in 2022, the Ataoja has again put on the fabrics of politics, and this time it is the politics of blackmail against the APC, especially those of us from Osogbo.
“It is surprising that an assassination attempt was carried out against the Ataoja by some unscrupulous persons, according to the royal father, the day an Accord party chieftain was shot, but the incident has never been in the public domain until an endorsement programme for Governor Ademola Adeleke. The allegation looks more like blackmail than truth”.
He wondered why Ataoja would head to a University teaching hospital instead of a police station just beside the palace, tasking the monarch to make the victims shot during the said assassination attempt at his palace.
His words, “The Ataoja did not claim to have reported the matter at the nearest police station, which is just beside the palace, but he went to UNIOSUN Teaching Hospital to report the matter, as he claimed that the record of the attack is at the hospital.
“The Ataoja has failed to mention the names of those attacked in the said alleged assassination, or are those people aliens from another planet?”
He disclosed that the claim by Ataoja that he is not sure of any political party behind the attack when Governor Adeleke blamed the APC, further showed the lapses in the State security architecture, emphasising that the Governor only relied on rumour rather than fact to point fingers at the APC before calling on the IGP to probe the incident, which happened almost two weeks ago.
“It is suspicious that no one around or inside the palace has ever discussed the said assassination attempt until the Ataoja made it a public issue at a political gathering, which is more of a political campaign than that.
“Adeleke should be the chief security officer of the state, but clearly, he has lost it with recent developments. Ataoja indicted him by saying the Governor is not aware of what happened since two weeks ago.
“We urge NSA, IGP, DSS, NSCDC and other security agencies to investigate the claims of Ataoja, which countered the claim of Adeleke about assassination. Ataoja should be ready to answer these questions: who was injured during his acclaimed attack on his palace, and which station did he report to? Which hospital were they treated at? Who are those arrested without the knowledge of the governor?
“APC is known for peace, and we are going to win the 2026 election without fight or rancour; it will be a replica of June 12, 1993”.
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