By Seye Olumide, Ibadan
Oyo State chapter of All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of planning to cause chaos tomorrow, when its presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, and his running mate, Kashim Shettima, will campaign in Ibadan.
In a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Olawale Sadare, APC claimed it had it on good authority that the PDP government led by Governor Seyi Makinde and the Park Management System (PMS) were planning to attack members of the public, who are warming up to receive Tinubu and his team in Ibadan tomorrow.
The statement reads: “The Tinubu/Shettima presidential campaign rally in Oyo, earlier slated for January 7, 2023, will now hold at Mapo Hall, Ibadan, this Tuesday. The event is expected to be attended by APC National Chairman, Sen. Abdullahi Adamu; Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong; as well as governors of APC across the 36 states, among other political bigwigs in the country.
“The decision to go ahead with the Tuesday rally, despite the crisis occasioned by the biting effect of fuel and naira notes scarcity being experienced by the masses, was borne out of the desire to shame some anti-democratic forces, who are bent on truncating the chances Tinubu at the poll.”
According to Sadare, APC has uncovered the satanic plot to unleash terrorists against members of the public, who might want to troop out and welcome Tinubu to Ibadan.He added: “The execution of the plot, which is aimed at discrediting the peaceful conduct of the rally, has been put in the hands of a close aide to the governor (names withheld) and the Chairman of the State Park Management System, Mr. Mukaila Lamidi (a.k.a Auxiliary).
APC said it would have ignored the threat of violence coming from the PDP but for their unenviable record of brigandage and senseless killing. Efforts to reach Auxiliary were futile, but a close aide of Governor Seyi Makinde dismissed the allegation as figment of APC’s imagination.
The aide also said: “Makinde is also busy with his campaign and the response from Oyo electorate to the development strides of the governor in the last four years does not warrant the governor to fret over APC or any other party.
“The internal crisis in Oyo APC is enough to make it lose the coming gubernatorial poll and earn Makinde convenient victory.”
Source: The Guardian