Taiwo Oluwadare, Ibadan
Alhaja Modinat Abosede Adedibu, the wife of late strongman of Ibadan politics, Alhaji Ariyibi Adedibu, has expressed disappointment with the removal of Emeka Ihedioha as Imo State Governor by the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday had nullified Ihedioha’s victory and declared Senator Hope Uzodimma of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the duly elected governor of the southeastern state in the 2019 governorship election.
Related: Imo cold as Uzodinma is declared governor by Supreme Court
Adedibu, a party chieftain of the Oyo State People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Ihedioha’s party, says that disunity in the party, especially at the national level, had been responsible for Ihedioha’s removal from office.
She suggested that Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde would have suffered a similar fate had it not been for God’s help and the efforts of good people in the state.
Speaking with Daily Sun on Thursday in her Ibadan home, Adedibu said: “The news of Ihedioha’s removal by Supreme Court is very painful when I heard it.
“I can tell you that we are not in unity in the PDP at the national level. The national chairman of the PDP and the National Working Committees don’t work in unity compared to their APC counterparts,” she said.
“APC National Chairman Oshiomhole also has problems but a majority of the members rally round him. But it is a different story in the PDP. When my husband was alive, he would go to the extent of prostrating to his enemies to make things right, but today party leaders in the PDP are too arrogant, which is taking a serious toll on the party’s survival.
“Look at the disgrace; Senator Uzodimma who is number four in Imo Guber election wrestled power from our incumbent governor. Look at the magnitude of electoral violence in Kano, their governor was not removed, neither did the court cancel the election – because the APC rallied round themselves.
“It was God that helped us on Seyi Makinde’s case, [otherwise] it would have been like Ihedioha’s case,” she stated.
Reacting to the Federal Government’s declaration of Operation Amotekun, the regional security outfit floated by South-West governors, Adedibu said that since federal authorities have failed in protecting lives and property in the region, they have no right to proscribe the initiative.
She said: “FG is wrong to declare Amotekun as illegal because it is meant to solve the insecurity challenge which FG has failed to do.
“You can see how people are being killed. It is a very good idea and I commend the South-West governors and other stakeholders that brought this to the limelight.
“I especially commend Governor Makinde for showing a keen interest in floating the security outfit because he is the only PDP governor among the five APC governors in the region. He plays a prominent role to ensure the security outfit was floated.”
Speaking on what would have been her husband’s reaction to Amotekun imbroglio, Adedibu said: “If my husband were alive, it won’t take this long to float this Amotekun thing because people are his priority. He would have reacted to the AGF’s statement by publishing adverts in newspapers lambasting Malami for his statement on Amotekun.”