From Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State has raised the alarm that the Peoples Democratic Party-led administration in the state is clamping down on opposition parties, with a view to silencing them, and probably make Oyo a one-party state.
The alarm was raised by the State Secretary of APC, Alhaji Tajudeen Olanite, in a statement that he made available to journalists in Ibadan, the state capital, on Monday.
The APC, according to him, spoke against the backdrop of threat to kill the party’s 2023 governorship candidate in the state, Senator Teslim Folarin, who is the the Chairman, Senate Committee on Local Content, allegedly by a former factional chairman of National Union of Road Transports Workers (NURTW) in the state, Alhaji Mukaila Lamidi, fondly called ‘Auxiliary’, who was appointed in February 2020 by Governor Seyi Makinde, as the chairman of the disciplinary committee for the Park Management System (PMS) of the state government.
Olanite argued that the pace setter state would be in a total mess if Governor Makinde is re-elected for a second term in office in 2023, based on the purported unapologetic manners with which Governor Makinde has been using the instrumentalities of the state to empower thugs, that have allegedly been fingered in the killing of some people in the state as well as threats to lives of innocent Nigerians that are not members of the PDP that formed the current government in the state.
According to the statement, the threat to Folarin’s life by Auxiliary has become a matter of public knowledge via video clips that have gone viral on the social media space within the past few days.
The statement read in part: “Governor Seyi Makinde does not deserve second term in office. During this outgoing first term of his, he has made our dear state to retrogress in terms of thuggery and hooliganism, which the immediate past governor, the late Senator Abiola Ajimobi, tamed effectively for eight years.
“Apart from the threat to the life of the Distinguished Senator Folarin, the same Mukaila Auxiliary and scores of his thugs have clamped down on the billboards and posters of the opposition parties, and predominantly, the leading opposition party in the state – APC. Auxiliary has been leading heavily armed thugs to destroy APC billboards and posters in different parts of Ibadan and the state.
“The billboard destruction by Auxiliary and his thugs, engaged by the PDP government in Oyo State is tagged: ‘Operation Destroy APC Billboard and Posters’. They have also started destruction of shops at Dugbe Alawo and Ogunpa, being operated by people they believed are not favourably disposed to second-term bid of Governor Makinde.
“It is an attempt to silence opposition and turn Oyo to a one-party state. The PDP-led administration is very intolerant of opposition in the state because they know that they have failed woefully and they don’t have any good thing to offer the good people of the state.
“But we have a mandate to rescue the state from the hands of these clueless, distracted, promise breaking, rookies in governance, and promoters of thuggery fellows. We shall not be deterred by their antics. We shall ensure the liberation of the good people of this state from the claws of these political hawks that have been reported to be in government to steal, kill and destroy.”
But the Publicity Secretary of PDP in the state, Akeem Olatunji, in a telephone chat with Daily Sun, punctured the allegations, describing them as mere political blackmail against the person of Governor Makinde, for APC to score cheap points for political popularity.
Answering reporter’s question on the threats to Folarin’s life by Auxiliary, Olatunji, explained that it was not a threat at all, but a statement of defence. He added that Auxiliary did want himself to be killed the way a former NURTW leader, Alhaji Lateef Salako, fondly called Eleweomo, was killed in 2010 in could blood, saying Folarin was fingered in the development.
Olatunji stated further that prior to the release of the 60-second video clip gaining traction on the social media, there have been threats to Auxiliary’s life from APC, which made him to send strong words to Folarin. He contended that Folarin’s supporters had in the recent time laid ambush for Auxiliary, which led to death, though Auxiliary escaped being assassinated. The PDP spokesperson noted that Makinde has laid solid foundation for peace and tranquility, and that it was a blatant lie that the governor has been promoting thuggery a d hooliganism
On the allegation of destruction of billboards and poster of APC, Olatunji said the APC should look inward “PDP and the government are not responsible for that. They should check themselves because they must be the ones destroying their own billboards and posters by themselves. They should not bring PDP into their own self-inflicted calamities.”
The APC State Secretary, Alhaji Tajudeen Olanite, stated further that within nine months of becoming governor in the state, Governor Makinde rubbished the foundation for peace and tranquility laid by a former governor of this state on the APC platform for eight years, the late Senator Abiola Ajimobi, by appointing an ex-convict to be the chairman of disciplinary committee of the Park Management System (PMS) in this state in the first quarter of 2020.
“Since February 2020 when Makinde appointed Auxiliary, the state has not really known true peace. It has been threats and intimidation galore for people in the state. One will not easily forget the killing of Ramoni in at Iwo Road Shopping Complex for parking his car in front of his parent’s complex. Makinde came out to defend Auxiliary that Ramoni was a cultist. Can you imagine?
“Even in the presence of security agencies and media practitioners, the followers of Alhaji Hazeem Gbolarumi, who is a former deputy governor of this state, as well as policemen were mercilessly beaten by Auxiliary and his people during the PDP governorship primary held at Adamasingba Stadium in Ibadan. The policemen were beaten without regards to the fact that they were in uniform and nothing came out of it.
“But it is imperative to raise this alarm because Auxiliary, who made the threat to the life of Folarin, is an ex-convict and he has what it takes to carry out his threat, even with the backing of Governor Makinde-led administration. It is on record that in 2011, Auxiliary was declared wanted by the Oyo State Police Command in connection with violence that occurred at Iwo Road interchange on June 4, 2011 where many people were killed in cold blood.
“During the bloody incident, former National President of the Nigeria Medical Students Association, Mr. Bala Usman Shanono, a 500-level medical student of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, was among other travellers felled by bullets. Following the incident, N500,000 ransom was placed on Auxiliary by the police. In 2014, the Lagos State Police Command paraded Auxiliary for illegal possession of guns. He was arrested by the command’s Special Anti- Robbery Squad, at the Olodo area of Ibadan on May 10, 2014 after an incriminating statement made by an illegal arms dealer, Abdulazeez Amao, who was arrested with arms hidden in bags of flour.
“In June, 2014, Auxiliary along with others were arraigned before an Oyo State Magistrate Court, sitting in Ibadan over three-count charge of conspiracy to murder, attempted murder and murder. He was remanded in Agodi Custodial Centre. The trial took two years. He was eventually sentenced to six-year jail term in July 2016 without an option of fine. On the day he was arraigned before the magistrate court, Auxiliary, who did not show any sign of remorse, threatened to break cameras of the photo journalists taking his photograph after the court session. He also pleaded not guilty to the charges preferred against him.
“Delivering the judgment, Justice Eni Esan noted that Auxiliary and others were sentenced because of conspiracy to murder, though they were also tried for murder. The judge ruled that the prosecuting counsel failed in his attempt to convince the court beyond reasonable doubt over the allegations of murder and attempted murder. So, if Auxiliary and his men can be going around, to make people cry during the first term of Governor Makinde, who wants a second term in office, the situation will definitely be worse during his second term. The reign of impunity will go to the next level, which will definitely be a monumental setback for Oyo State. We should not allow it to happen.
“We therefore call on the Commissioner of Police in Oyp State and the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) on the threat to the life of a three-term senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and a former Senate Leader in the National Assembly, to do the needful.”