The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has expressed discontent with the alleged diversionary tactics of Atiku-Okowa Campaign Council General Manager, Sunday Bisi.
Osun APC alleged that it aims to derail the call for the immediate arrest of the HDP House candidate for Ijeza South federal constituency, Sania Omren, over the killing of Elisa APC member Ebenezer Alaro on Friday. .
The Daily Post reported that Alaro was murdered in front of his father’s house in Aromir Street, Elisa, by suspected political thugs.
The APC member’s death also drew condemnation from Timothy Oye, Speaker of the Osun State House of Representatives, who condemned the act and called on the police to hunt down the culprits and make them face the weight of the law.
The Osun State Police Command, through its spokesperson, Yemisi Obalola, confirmed the killing but added that the leadership had not been informed whether it was political or not.
However, in a statement issued by Tajuddin Lawal, the state’s acting speaker on Sunday, the party condemned Bessi for allegedly resorting to using guesswork and falsehood to guide his political viewpoint.
Lawal states that with Bessi’s own admission that he has been witnessing the importation of bad guys into his community for some time without reporting it to the police makes him clearly guilty of dirty politics with true peace in Ijesaland.
How could he be given a 72 hour reprieve to go bad by a political party leader who claims to be serious and act in the interest of his people?
Lawal explained, “The statement made on Sunday by Bessi in this regard was just a distraction that was intended to divert the police’s attention to the arrest and trial of Amirin and his associates over the murder of our member Alaro last Friday.”
In a statement on Sunday, Bessi issued a 72-hour ultimatum to Ajibola Famoriwa and Oye to remove the bad guys who were recruited from neighboring countries to disrupt the elections in Osun.
In a personally signed statement, Bessi accused Osun APC members and the acting state party chief of conspiring to spark unrest in the state in order to save the party from a humiliating loss in the elections.
“In the past few days, we have noticed the transfer of thugs to Osun State by the APC and we are fully aware of all the hotels in Osun East and other parts of the state where they have been housed,” confirmed the former Chairman of Osun PDP.
“Our reliable findings show that bold hands were willing to unleash violence, intimidate innocent people, and target our members for attacks to scare them off voting. This fully explains the rise in violence against PDP members, especially in Osun East, where many are feared increasing over their lives.
“For this reason, we will give the GPA commanders 72 hours to remove all the bad guys who have been brought to Osun State, and if we fail to do so, we will have no choice but to hand over their locations to the security services in order to throw out our state.”
Condemning the APC’s move towards elections as desperation transcended, Bessi noted that a party that has done a good job of winning the support of the people will not need to import criminals to create chaos.
DAILY POST reported that on Wednesday, Osun APC demanded in a press conference the immediate transfer of the Osun State Police Commissioner because he had lost confidence in his ability to maintain the democratic status in the state.
The APC, speaking through Kola Olabisi, the party’s media and information director in the state, also revealed that it is armed with information revealing arrangements between the state’s People’s Democratic Party and the police to arrest some of its leaders.
While accusing Osun of sponsoring bad guys in the state, the PDP stated that “its members have not known peace since the ruling of the Osun Governor Election Petition Court that Osun did not support the PDP and Governor Ademola Adeleke.”
Olabisi who represented Osun Acting Chairman Tajuddin Lawal revealed at the press conference that many of its members were now in hibernation and sitting in Elisa, Ile If, Osogbo and other cities to avoid political attacks.
In response, Akindele Adekunle, interim chairman of the Osun PDP, debunked the insinuation that APC members had been attacked by PDP members.
Adekunle added that it was members of the General People’s Congress who attacked members of the Democratic Progressive Party in the state.
In the run-up to the 2023 general election, Senator Osun East County which includes three federal constituencies of Ife, Ijesa North and Ijesa South, has been embroiled in pockets of violence.
The violence crossed party lines as the campaign offices of candidates and party activists of both the GPC and the People’s Democratic Party in the lands of Ife and Ijessa were attacked.
Some members of the two parties caught in the crossfire also perished, most recently the killing of Ebenezer Alaro, who was shot dead on Friday in Elisa.
2023 elections: Osun APC and PDP accuse each other of using diversionary tactics
