Ondo 2016: Pro-Oke group, PDP trade accusations

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9 years ago

A political group within the Alliance for Democracy (AD) in Ondo State, Ondo Third Force Forum (OTFF), on Tuesday, alleged the state governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, was working to thwar the ambition of the party’s candidate in this month’s governorship election, Chief Olusola Oke.

This is just as the group alleged that the governor had been importing former militants from PDP-controlled South-South states and members of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) to disrupt the election.

In a statement by the coordinator of the group, Foluso Olugbemi, the group accused the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state of plotting to remove Oke through a court process by using a principal officer of the AD.

Olugbemi alleged that a faction of the AD was being used by the governor to force Oke out of the race through the courts.

“We are aware of the moves being orchestrated by Governor Olusegun Mimiko to stop our candidate, Chief Olusola Oke, whose popularity is soaring by the day,” the statement said.

On the allegation that the governor was already importing ex-militants and some OPC members, Olugbemi alleged that the thugs were scattered across various hotels in Akure, the Ondo State capital.

Reacting, PDP’s Director of Publicity, Ayo Fadaka, however, said the allegations were not only false but unfounded, stating that the AD was only looking for relevance.

Fadaka said: “We have no business with Oke and we have since cast him away from our consciousness after he took his excursion into APC. We are not even taking cognisance of the fact that he is contesting in this election. So, how do we start calculating against him? Such action, on our part, will be an empty exercise.

“We have wondered times without number what the living will be doing with the dead, as we believe AD is a dead party.”