Akure PDP’s protest: Deji urges Buhari to intervene; AD, APC react

The Deji of Akure, Oba Aladetoyinbo Aladelusi, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene in the crisis arising from the clearance of Jimoh Ibrahim as Ondo state governorship candidate on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The monarch made the appeal on Saturday while addressing aggrieved Ondo PDP members at his Palace in Akure.
He said the non clearance of Eyitayo Jegede by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), according to court orders, was generating protest.
He also urged the INEC not to take side and to correct any mistake they might have made.
“The judiciary should also intervene and make sure that all parties get justice because we don’t want any injustice in Ondo State,” he said.
Mr Clement Faboyede, PDP Chairman in the state, speaking on behalf of the protesters, called on the president to prevail on INEC to look into the issue.
“We don’t want Ondo State to be on fire because our state is peaceful.
“Some cabals in All Progressives Congress (APC) are using Jimoh Ibrahim against the candidacy of Jegede, Jimoh is not a PDP member but rather a card carrying member of Accord party,” he said.
Earlier, the PDP members brought traffic to a standstill at the popular Oba Adesida road while market women closed their shops.
The supporters carried placards with inscriptions like ‘Return Jegede to us’, Buhari should not interfere in Ondo politics’ and ‘Remember 1983.’’
Security operatives were also present and keeping watchful eyes on the peaceful protest as the crowd move toward the Palace of Deji of Akure.
Meanwhile, the Alliance for Democracy(AD) in Ondo State has called on Buhari not to be fooled by the antics of the Ondo State Governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, over the mayhem that occurred on Friday over the list of the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) pasted by INEC in the state.
According to a statement by the State Secretary of the AD, Dr Sola Agboola, on Saturday, instead, the governor should be held accountable for the organised mayhem which he
regretted, “has even continued since this morning (Saturday) as PDP thugs and street urchins hired to carry out the acts of brigandage and been blocking roads in Akure, the State capital to sustain the lies concocted by Mimiko to the President that the State was on fire owing to the list pasted by the Independent national Electoral Commission (INEC)”.
The AD, while describing the situation as an irony and a sad pointer that Mimiko who got into office via the instrumentality of the court, could surreptitiously resort to violence even while before an appellate court to redress the matter, posited that it amounted to deceit to resort to violence to seek justice.
While describing AD as a peaceful party committed to the peace and tranquillity in the state, the Secretary wondered why Mimiko should attempt to impose the wish of a tiny members of his party over those of the majority who are contented with the court and INEC’s verdicts.
“In order to make his subterfuge work, the embattled governor threatened the Deji of Akure, Oba Aladelusi Aladetoyinbo, with deposition if he fails to incite the market men and women and close the Main market in order to make his ploy seem real.
“At the same time, hired thugs from outside of the State in cahoots with the some members of the drivers’ union, whose State Chairman is the governor’s kinsman from Ondo, caused mayhem in order to whip sentiments for his minion, who regrettably is a lawyer.
“We are calling on the law enforcement agencies to call Governor Mimiko and his protégé, Mr Eyitayo Jegede, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) to order and hold them responsible for any infraction and breakdown of law and order. They are the authors of this organised mayhem.
“The AD as a peaceful party abhors violence and destruction of public properties and we view with seriousness this shameful act of brigandage to force the hands of the law to do your wish by fire by force as Mr Mimiko is doing. The present mayhem is an organised one being perpetrated by the Ondo State Government and not that of the reaction of the people. Besides, that it came a day after the said
incident happened and far into the mid morning when workers, market men
and women, school children have gone to their respective offices and schools speaks volumes,” Agboola stated.
On its own, the All Progressives Congress in Ondo State described the visit of the governor to Buhari at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, as mischievous and a calculated attempt to cover his self-inflicted crisis in the State.
The APC, in a statement by its spokesman, Omo’ba Abayomi Adesanya, said “the mission of Governor Mimiko to Mr. President, on the crisis rocking the Ondo PDP over the Party’s governorship candidature, cannot be understood by many. Has Governor Mimiko gone to complain to President Buhari as the leader of PDP? Now, if he has gone to complain to the President and Commander-In-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria(GCFR), what does he (Mimiko) want the President to do against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the courts that ordered INEC to recognize Barrister Jimoh Ibrahim as the authentic PDP governorship candidate in the 2016 November 26th election? Is Governor Mimiko portraying that, the President is the one directing and controlling INEC and Courts by going to report to him (the President)?
“When has the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria become the appellate Court to the High Courts, that he (Mimiko) has to report to him, on a matter already ruled-on and decided by court of competent jurisdiction? If his godson’s (Eyitayo’s) lawyers have already filed an appeal before the Appeal Court, is he (Mimiko) making Mr. President a coordinate appellate jurisdiction?
“If, Governor Mimiko, as the Chief Security Officer of the State, has gone to the President on security matters, is he (Mimiko) saying the entire Ondo State Police Command, Directorate of State Security (DSS), National Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the Military Command in the state cannot curtail his (Mimiko’s) self-induced crisis, that he personally organised through some of his men in Akure, the home town of his godson, Mr. Eyitayo Jegede (SAN) and his own town, Ondo, by his Party (PDP) thugs and members, which he now portrays as a state-wide protest?
“Is it not shameful, Mr. Governor that you, being the leader of PDP in Ondo State, and the Chairman, PDP Governors’ Forum in Nigeria (PDP National Leader/Chairman Defacto), cannot abate little misunderstanding in the state chapter of your party? We advise you take a queue and learn from Ondo APC in party management.
“Mr. Governor, do you know that, ‘what goes around, comes around’? In 2014, you joined the PDP through the back doors, (Jonathan’s Presidency) and took over the structures of the Party (PDP) at all levels in the state without congress(es), as enshrined in the Constitution of PDP, without recourse to the existing structures of the party in the whole state. Now that your displaced landlords have gotten justice, after two years, through a competent court of jurisdiction, you are now crying wolf, running helter-skelter to save your head of the same embarrassment you inflicted on them (Old PDP members) by your defection two years ago. What goes around, comes around!
“Not too long ago, during the flag-off campaigns of your godson, you (Mimiko) and your controversial colleague in Ekiti State, Governor Ayodele Fayose, threatened to set Ondo State on fire, should your godson, Eyitayo Jegede (SAN), lose the governorship election in the state.
“Mr. Governor, you and your team are gradually making good your threats to set our dear state (Ondo) on fire. We want the Presidency and security agencies to take note of this”.