Oyo govt ‘uncovers’ plot to burn APC secretariat

OYO State said it has uncovered a plot by the “Unity Forum”, an All Progressives Congress (APC) ‘’dissident group’’, to burn the party’s secretariat in an alleged bid to scuttle Saturday’s council poll and party congresses.

The government said yesterday it received intelligence that members of the group had been holding clandestine meetings in Ibadan, the capital, to perfect the plot and recruit thugs to carry out the hatchet job.

A statement yesterday by the Executive Assistant (Political) to the Governor, Dr. Morounkola Thomas, noted that the group include some members of the House of Representatives, a minister, as well as former and serving political office holders.

The government said the group had been granting interviews with the claim that Governor Abiola Ajimobi wanted to kill them.

The statement said the group had been meeting in the homes of two members in Bodija and Samonda to cause panic among residents.

It warned the group to be prepared to bear the consequences of its actions, saying it would scuttle their plans.

The government urged law-abiding residents to go about their businesses without fear.

It added: “Oyo State is peaceful and will remain peaceful with the support of every law-abiding citizen. The governor has been a peace-loving leader and chief promoter of peace in the last seven years of his administration.

“He will, therefore, not fold his arms and allow any group or individuals, irrespective of status, to take the state back to the dark era of political brigandage and violence.

“The protesting members of the House of Representatives and their leaders are all beneficiaries of Governor Ajimobi’s generosity and should be grateful to him, instead of biting the fingers that fed them.

“We are aware that they are looking for relevance, and the only way they can get this is by linking Governor Ajimobi to the imaginary threat to their lives and well-being. Would anyone planning to injure you inform you before the act? They should have come up with a more believable tale.

“These are the governor’s political sons and we don’t know what will profit a father to kill his son. The Almighty has been sufficiently good to him with every sense of modesty and he will not take issues further with them.

“All their tantrums are mere distractions and a plot to derail the governor from his focused cardinal objectives of Transformation, Reformation and Repositioning Agenda, which have indubitably transformed the face and fortunes of the state.

“It sounds unbelievable that the (House of) Representatives members and their ilk could claim that the same governor, who single-handedly propelled them from political irrelevance to the limelight will now be plotting to take their lives.

“The ward congresses have come and gone. The congress committee and the so-called Unity Forum adjudged the congress to be free and fair. An appeal committee has been put in place and we advise those aggrieved to explore the opportunity.

“The governor has turned his attention to the task for which he was elected for the second term by the people of Oyo State and will not allow himself to be distracted by the noise of the marketplace.

‘’We will rather advise them to get busy with the business of law-making for which they were elected.”

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