The PDP in a statement issued by its deputy national publicity secretary, Prince Diran Odeyemi, which was made available to the TribuneOnline in Osogbo, fingered the ruling party as orchestrating crisis within the opposition party, contending that “APC was scared of what a united PDP could achieve in the September 22 poll and has been using its members to unsettle our flag bearer”.
It would be recalled that after winning the PDP’s governorship ticket in a keenly contested primary election, Senator Adeleke, representing Osun West Senatorial District in the National Assembly was dragged before an Osun State High court by two members of the party, seeking an interlocutory injunction to restrain him from being the party’s candidate over alleged non possession of school leaving certificate.
But, Odeyemi, in the statement circulated to journalists in Osogbo, Osun State capital maintained that “intelligence at the disposal of the party has linked APC to the case and urged the ruling party to stop meddling in PDP affairs, suggesting for the party intense efforts towards saving what is left of its disintegrated party structure”.
Reacting over the PDP’s accusation, the director of publicity, research and strategy of the APC in Osun, Barrister Kunle Oyatomi advised the opposition party not to dissipate energy on baseless accusation, saying “the PDP should exert whatever energy it has left to look for a credible replacement rather than beat around the bush”.
In a press release forwarded to our correspondent in Osogbo, he posited that “there is no way the APC can waste its energy and time trying to create trouble in a party like the PDP which imploded long time ago when it broke into several factions. As far as we are concerned, the PDP is a despicable shell of its original self”.
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It reads thus, “instead of wasting its time, accusing the APC of being the cause of its problem, we would have thought that the PDP should exert whatever energy it has left to look for a credible replacement rather than beat about the bush, accusing the ruling party in the state of being the cause of its political calamity.
“It is a pity its purported flagbearer has become embroiled in a certificate scandal that threatened to completely destroy the PDP chances for fielding a candidate from the look of things. We have no business inciting anybody to leave the PDP for the SDP or ADC. We did not ask Sen Adeleke to present a forged certificate which he did not earn, according to the rumour circulating all over the place”.
However, while describing the litigation as a mere distraction against the PDP’s candidate, Odeyemi advised members of the party not to fall for antics of APC, but work assiduously towards ensuring a victorious outing for PDP on the election day.
“We can’t afford to miss this opportunity to wrestle Osun from the grip of the failing APC. We have it on good authority that the ruling party has been going about looking for willing hands within our fold to use against us. I urge our members to reject any offer from APC against the collective good of our party”, he asserted.
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