BARELY 48 hours to the conduct of primary election where the flag bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in September 22 governorship poll in Osun will emerge, the opposition party, on Wednesday accused the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) of allegedly hatching plots to thwart the exercise.
The Osun State chairman of the PDP, Hon Soji Adagunodo, in a statement made available to the TribuneOnline in Osogbo said: ” our party is in possession of credible intelligence to the effect that the APC is planning to disrupt PDP governorship primaries, holding on Saturday”.
He affirmed that top echelons of the APC allegedly held “several meetings with notorious thugs in a location in the state to hatch plans of causing mayhem during the primaries”, contending that “desperate plans of the APC was borne out of the party’s fears about what a successful PDP primaries portends for the party in governorship election of September 22, 2018”.
Adagunodo subsequently called on the “state Commissioner of Police, Mr Fimihan Adeoye, the director of the Department of State Security (DSS), commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to ensure maximum security before and during the exercise, which will involve 3,000 party members”.
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He implored the security agencies “to beam their searchlight on some chieftains of the APC, who have been notorious for perpetrating violence using hoodlums often referred to as State Boys by Governor Rauf Aregbesola”.
Reacting over the PDP’s accusation, the director of publicity, research and strategy of the APC in Osun, Barrister Kunle Oyatomi described the position of the opposition party as ridiculous, saying “the PDP should look within itself to prevent intra party squabbles”.
In an email message forwarded to our correspondent, Oyatomi said “the good people of Osun, please ignore whatever you hear from the PDP. By now, our people should be conversant with their compulsive lying habit. They should go about their businesses peacefully. Under no circumstances will the APC be interested in PDP’s primary, because it presents no threat to us whatsoever, much more think about the fantasy of wanting to disrupt their event”.
“Security agents are advised anyway to be on the alert because the PDP is so disorganised and ruptured that it is not impossible that the numerous factions within it, will turn on themselves at the primary. The PDP should look within itself to prevent its intraparty squabbles, rather than point dirty fingers at us”, he remarked.
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