The ruling Accord Party and the All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday clashed over Governor Ademola Adeleke’s recent remarks urging President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to intervene in the political situation ahead of the August 15 Osun governorship election.
During his campaign in Olorunda on Monday, Adeleke warned that he would not tolerate any form of rigging by the APC in the forthcoming poll, vowing to prevent a repeat of the 1966 Operation Wetie crisis in Osun State. He also lamented alleged political victimisation by the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola.
In response, the APC, through its Director of Media and Information, Chief Kola Olabisi, dismissed Adeleke’s allegations as ‘misplaced and frivolous.’ The party accused the governor of attempting to justify what it described as his impending electoral defeat by blaming President Tinubu, Oyetola, and security agencies for his political woes.
The APC argued that Adeleke’s claims lacked credible evidence and were aimed at whipping up public sentiment ahead of the election. ‘It is disheartening that such sweeping allegations of political victimisation could be made by a governor known for fuelling, promoting, and bankrolling political violence in the state,’ the statement read.
The party further alleged that Adeleke had turned the Government House into a haven for political thugs, empowered violent elements with appointments, and granted questionable amnesty to convicted criminals. It challenged him to let the August 15 election serve as a referendum on his administration, insisting that its candidate, Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji (AMBO), remained well-positioned to win.
However, the Director-General of the Accord Campaign Council, Senator Lere Oyewumi, dismissed the APC’s claims, stressing that Adeleke neither attacked nor insulted President Tinubu. He said the governor merely appealed to the President, as the father of the nation, to ensure a free, fair, and credible election in Osun State.
Oyewumi explained that Adeleke’s comments were directed at drawing Tinubu’s attention to what the party described as growing political violence, killings, and intimidation allegedly targeted at Accord members.
He claimed that seven Accord members had been killed, more than 20 injured, and over 60 detained in what he termed illegal police custody in the past three months.
He further alleged that during the 2022 governorship election, 45 Adeleke supporters lost their lives without the perpetrators being prosecuted. Oyewumi also referenced the lingering local government leadership crisis, claiming that over N350 billion belonging to local governments had been diverted by individuals described as ‘illegal APC occupants’ of council secretariats.
The Accord Campaign Council maintained that Adeleke’s remarks were a passionate appeal for presidential intervention to guarantee peaceful, credible, and violence-free elections, rather than an attack on President Tinubu.