The Osun State All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused loyalists of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of planning to unleash violence before, during and after the Presidential rally of the party scheduled for Thursday.
The APC has consequently sent a stern warning to the political hoodlums that have been unleashing violence and perpetrating series of attacks on the people of the State, particularly members of the APC, to desist from the heinous acts in the interest of peace and tranquility.
The APC called on the security agencies to come to the aid of its members and continue to do the needful by clamping down on those that have been causing mayhem across the nooks and crannies of the state.
Addressing a Press Conference at the Tinubu/Shettima Campaign Office on Tuesday, the APC chairman in the State, Sooko Tajudeen Lawal, said the party has reliably gathered intelligence as regards the clandestine moves of the PDP leaders to disrupt the APC Presidential Campaign rally slated to hold in Osogbo on Thursday.
Lawal revealed that parts of the PDP’s unholy plans to frustrate and truncate the rally is to kit its political hoodlums with branded APC uniforms and face caps with a view to giving false identities to the PDP-sponsored political thugs.
According to him, Governor Adeleke had instructed his Chief Security Officer (CSO), CSP Omoyele Adekunle, to import fake security operatives who would be in hoods while perpetrating violence across the State.
“We are privy to an intelligence that the Osun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in connivance with the embattled state Governor Ademola Adeleke, have concluded a plan to disrupt the All Progressives Congress (APC) rally of our presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, coming up on Thursday, February 2, 2023, at Freedom Park, Osogbo.
“We also observed that embattled Governor Adeleke’s security guards are always hooded and we have credible evidence that the majority of the hooded security guards are political hoodlums that the governor is using for extra-judicial killings and attacks of the opposition members across the state.
“We also discovered through our painstaking efforts that the controversial Chief Security Officer (CSO) to the governor, one Chief Superintendent of Police Omoyele Adekunle (the leader of the Killer Squad) has been the one giving instructions and protection to the hooded political thugs.
“Our discovery also revealed that the Osun State chapter of the PDP has provided police and the Nigerian Army uniforms to be given to their numerous thugs on Thursday during our presidential rally.
“According to our reliable source, part of the booby traps orchestrated by the PDP/Adeleke to truncate the Tinubu/Shettima presidential rally on Thursday is to prevent commercial vehicles and motorcycles from working by the use of political thugs to be led by Ado ‘Igbona’ and ‘Emir’ in Osogbo metropolis.
“We also have an uncontroverted information that embattled Governor Adeleke and his co-travellers in the PDP have recruited 3, 000 women at the rate of N2, 000 each to embark on a ferocious protest beginning from tomorrow (Wednesday) through Thursday. The starting point of the women protest is Gbongan-Ibadan road and to be moved to Osogbo later on Thursday.
“It was also gathered that Adeleke and the PDP have mapped out another plan to use political hoodlums to be waylaying our members and supporters who might be coming to Osogbo for the presidential rally from the various towns and villages on Thursday.
“While we are imploring the members of our party and our numerous supporters to troop out to be active participants in the rally of our presidential candidate on Thursday, we are pleading with our members and supporters to maintain decorum even when confronted with avoidable provocation from the agents of disruptions.
“We are also appealing to the state police command and other statutory sister security agencies in the state not to take the issue of security with levity in the state at all times before, during and after our Thursday’s President rally,” he said.
In his remarks, the spokesperson of Osun APC Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Council, Engr. Remi Omowaye, said the members of the party would continue to maintain peace and remain orderly regardless of internal or external intimidations from any quarters.
Omowaye who lamented the serial attacks on members of the APC in the last few months said the time has come for the security operatives to unravel the ugly incident and bring perpetrators to book.
In a swift response, the Osun state Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the APC allegation as ridiculous and baseless.
In a statement by the its chairman, Dr Adekunle Akindele, the PDP said it had no agenda to disrupt the APC rally on Thursday.
“We remind the APC that the PDP is not a party that glorifies the likes of MC Oluomo and Asiri Eniba. We connect with the people with persuasion. So we have no sinister agenda unlike APC that disrupted PDP rallies on several occasions in the prelude to the last election.
“Let the APC be reminded that its praise singer , Wasiu Ayinde had rightly predicted that the victory of PDP in Osun is a prelude to PDP victory at the general election. We are also elated that the Buga judgement had reinforced our peoples conviction that their vote must be against Bola Tinubu and APC.
“We therefore have little to worry about as to our winning the next month’s election. Osun people are solidly behind the PDP. It is the APC that has a lot of pain caused by peoples’ rejection of Kangaroo judgement of last week. That judgement has finally changed the beat. Osun is for Atiku/Okowa. We therefore need no hooded thugs as we have none. What we have is the people and they will use their votes to reject APC and Tinubu come February 25th,” the statement read.
