Elders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Ogun West Senatorial District have denounced the relocation of Lagos West Senator Olamilekan Adeola to Ogun State as unlawful and disgusting, claiming he is not fit to run in the state.
The elders claimed Adeola’s effort to jump ship and run for office in Ogun West while still holding the Lagos West mandate was “a blatant illegality of the most appalling order.”
The elders, under the auspices of the Ogun West Elders, Leaders and Stakeholders in the APC, as well as other unaligned interest groups, at a meeting in Ilaro, lamented that the Ogun West chapter of the APC had been “enmeshed in controversies and acrimony; most especially on the administration of the party in the district and the selection process of its senatorial candidate.”
While saying they were disturbed over the turn of events, the senior citizens said they have risen up to curtail the desperate plot to force what they termed an aberration down their throat, “putting us in the news for wrong reasons and making us become subject of ridicule in Nigeria today.”
According to a communique signed by Sen. Iyabo Anisulowo, Salmon Adeleke, Mary Ogunjobi, Solomon Ajose, Juliana Akintyo, Razak Oduntan; Jimoh Akinlade and Alabi Ojoare, the stakeholders expressed sadness that the “inordinate ambition” of Adeola is being promoted by a section of the party in Ogun West, through peddling of spurious claims.
Insisting that Adeola is not an indigene of Ogun West, the elders rejected the purported endorsement of the Lagos Senator by his private supporters, saying they “do not speak for the generality of the Elders, Leaders and Stakeholders of Ogun West APC; because at nowhere have this senatorial district sat down to unanimously support or endorse any of the legitimate aspirants vying for the senatorial ticket of the party.”
They described as distasteful, “the lies, manipulations and schemes being peddled by these leaders, all in the bid to legitimise the smuggled ineligible aspirant into Ogun West APC; thereby causing distortions, disruptions and compromise of the process.
“A clear example of such charade was when they said, Yewa Obas begged Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to release the Lagos Senator to Ogun State. It took the rebuttal by some bold and non-conformist Yewa Obas for us to know it was all gimmicks. In a similar vein, they have severally mischievously used the name of the Governor as a supporter of the gambit, to hoodwink people into joining the bandwagon of the attempt to import illegality to Ogun West.
“We are under no doubt that Prince Dapo Abiodun have yet to affirm his support for any aspirant and we are confident he will not lend himself to this anomaly.
“We, therefore, use this medium to reinforce the indisputable fact that the genuine Elders, Leaders and Stakeholders of Ogun West APC are not in support of the illegal move, and neither have any of the legitimate aspirants been endorsed for the Senate seat of our senatorial district, talk more of Senator Olamilekan Adeola – who by clear provisions of the constitution and the electoral act is not qualified to contest elections in Ogun State. Therefore, any group of persons that have done so, are speaking for themselves and not for Ogun West.
“Significantly, we call on the National Working Committee (NWC) of our party, under the leadership of HE Senator Abdullahi Adamu and also HE Prince Dapo Abiodun, to intervene and halt the illegality being perpetrated in Ogun State.
“Finally, we restate that this action is to protect the integrity of our senatorial district and preserve the legacies of our forebears who by now, will be turning in their graves at the attempted desecration of Yewa-Awori land.”
Reacting, Adeola’s media aide, Kayode Odunaro, insisted that the lawmaker is an indigene of Ogun West.
Odunaro charged the elders to be democratic, instead of nursing fear of likely defeat in the primary election.
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