…Denies Involvement in Chairman, Others’ Attack

Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo State has denied involvement in the fracas that occurred at the All Progressives Congress (APC) secretariat on Tuesday, which led to the beating of the Chairman, Engr Ade Adetimehin, and top leaders of the party in the state.

Governor Aiyedatiwa accused aspirants jostling for various party positions of importing hoodlums who disrupted the stakeholders’ meeting and injured several party leaders.

Hoodlums suspected to be members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) on Tuesday invaded the secretariat of the APC.

They injured Adetimehin, the top members, and officials of the party. Others injured included the member representing the state on the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Hon Otito Atikase, former lawmaker, Hon Success Torhukerhojo, former Deputy Speaker, Hon Abayomi Akinruntan, driver of the chairman, Friday Ogbaide, former chairman of Ile-Oluji/Okeigbo local government, Hon Dayo Akinsuroju, and former Commissioner, Hon Saka-Yusuf Ogunleye.

Atikase and former Commissioners who escaped from the scene, Mrs Yetunde Adeyanju and Yusuf-Ogunleye, stated that the hoodlums, led by the Chairman of NURTW, Mr Ademola Odudu, were sponsored by Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa.

However, speaking after the reconvened stakeholders’ meeting, Aiyedatiwa stated that he had no involvement in the crisis that erupted during the earlier stakeholders’ meeting, which was disrupted by hoodlums.

According to him, APC is a family, and he could not have authorised the beating or injury of family members who were gathered for a meeting.

His words “I got a call from the party chairman, who is Ade Adetimehin, that there is going to be a stakeholders’ meeting, which I also approved, but I told them it should be fixed for 2 p.m. because I was attending the 50th birthday of one of the stakeholders, who is a cabinet member of our party. I said the meeting should be fixed for about 2 p.m.

“Normally, we have stakeholders’ meetings, and as the governor, I am always in attendance, alongside the Speaker and the Deputy Governor. All of us are always present at every stakeholders’ meeting. ‎In the first quarter of this year, we had one in January, before the state’s anniversary.

“We had 60 people per local government. But this one was an impromptu stakeholders’ meeting because of the congresses at the ward and local government levels.

“As I said, the meeting was shifted to 2 p.m. because it was initially fixed for 10 a.m., and I said I would not be able to make it at that time. Later on, I got a call from one of them saying there were some problems around, or some miscreants around the party secretariat. I asked him to call the Commissioner of Police, and I also called the Commissioner of Police myself to ensure the place was protected, as I was going to attend the meeting. I asked that security operatives be deployed to protect the place.

“‎Later, I got to know that some miscreants who had sympathy for one aspirant or the other, those who are contesting for one position or the other, were moving around and trying to create some kind of fracas among themselves, which led to some disturbance.

“The police assured that they would be able to protect everybody, and they were deployed. In fact, the secretariat was secured by the police before we arrived for the stakeholders’ meeting. We had a peaceful stakeholders’ meeting thereafter because the miscreants had been chased away by the police.”
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‎ Aiyedatiwa said there was no stakeholders’ meeting earlier on Tuesday as claimed by some party leaders. He said the people were just about to arrive when those supporters, the miscreants supporting one interest or the other, were hanging around the secretariat and eventually disrupted the meeting.

Denying involvement in the fracas, Aiyedatiwa said: ” You can see the way I am dressed. You can check. I was at the 50th birthday celebration of one of the stakeholders, who was also supposed to be here. Most of the stakeholders were at the party. That was why we asked the meeting to be shifted to 2 p.m. The Speaker was there as well. We moved from there to this place and then had the stakeholders’ meeting.”

The governor said he has directed the Commissioner of Police and Director of the Department of State Security (DSS) to ensure the peaceful conduct of congresses being held in different parts of the state to elect officials at the grassroots level.

At the meeting, which was held at the party’s State Secretariat in Akure, the Ward Congress Committee led by Chief Margaret Aruruenu (Chairman) and Barrister Smart Iheazor (Secretary), briefed the party leaders on the preparations for the exercise.

Both Aruruenu and Iheazor assured the party leaders that the various Congress Committees would perform their duties in line with the set guidelines and constitution of the party.

Members of the three other committees from the national secretariat – Screening Committee, Screening Appeals Committee, and Congress Appeals Committee – were also present at the meeting.

Three leaders of the party (Barrister Tolu Babaleye from the Northern senatorial district, Hon. Ifedayo Abegunde from the Central senatorial district, and Hon. Ola Oguntimehin from the Southern senatorial district), who spoke at the meeting, praised the peaceful conduct of the screening exercise and promised their party members would conduct themselves peacefully during the Congress.

Also, the Speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly, Rt Hon Olamide Oladiji, commended the efforts of the congress committees so far and assured them that the exercise will be peaceful across the state.