Osun State Chapter of the Labour Party (LP) on Tuesday suspended its Chairman, Comrade Bello Adebayo for alleged mismanagement of N34 million meant to be disbursed for party activities before the Party presidential election in the state.
As a result of the action, the party has however appointed its new acting Chairman in the person of Mrs. Suzan Oluwayemi Ojo with a marching order to proceed with the party assignment.
Announcing the state party Chairman’s suspension at a press conference in Osogbo, the chairman of ward 12, Osogbo Local Government area Osogbo where he belongs to, Hon. Hameed Sheriff together with other seven ward executives, accused Bello of defrauding the party and also mismanaged it’s resources.
He, however, said, “having met the two third of ward level executives. Having found Bello Adebayo committed the categories of offences. We are to act according to the constitution of our party. Labour Party.”
“Article 19 1b, subsections 2, 45 and Article 19 2b subsection 3: Of continuously being at the meetings at the ward “level without cogent reasons for 10 times or more consecutively, carrying out anti party propaganda or any other activities which could tend to disrupt the peaceful, lawful and efficient organization of the party of which are inconsistency with the achievement of the aims of the party”.
“Due to the offences committed we hereby suspend Bello Adebayo as the member of the Labour Party in Ward 12 Osogbo Local Government as the state party chairman.”
Also, in her own speech at the programme, the acting Chairman of the party, accused the suspended chairman of duping the party saying Bello duped the Osun LPPCO twice. Firstly, Osum LPPCC had painstakingly set up 8 committees combining the Obidient Movement with candidates and party members from all local governments As the Chairman, the LPPCC trusted him with N4 Million Naira for Peter Obi Rally at Osogbo.
“He absconded with the funds, leading to the terrible attack by supporters on the LPPCC offices. During this terrible attack on the LPPCC office, when the aggrieved supporter had already bought petrol to burn the office donated to the party. ”
“In trying to robe himself in an unbefitting garb, Bello’s desperation to confer credibility on his mission by taking advantage to do a cover up of the atrocities he committed before, during and after the gubernatorial and presidential elections. He should explain to the public how he spent the N4 million handed over to him through to state LPPCC meant for the party when our presidential candidate His Excellency Mr Peter Obi came to Osun for his presidential campaign.”
According to her, “it is unfortunately, the Osun Labour Party allowed Bello to dupe them the second time. Having given himself a very bad reputation among the Obidients, Candidates and Party leaders, he had to rely on the goodwill of LPPCC to get people/polling unit agents to submit Form EC8A after the elections: And before the LPPCC decided to work with him, he promised that those who submitted these forms would be compensated.”
“After submission he was there after given N30M to pay polling unit agents that submitted the Forms EC8A. Now the leaders of LPPCC are being chased around by those who submitted these Forms, while Bello had collected and cornered their funds.You can verify all these from any LP member in Osun State. Such is the despicabit. character of Belo and his co-travellers. And these tell you more about the interloper called Bello Adebayo. He should explain to the public how he spent the N30 million sent to him after the presidential elections.”
“In the purported meeting, he announced to them that though, millions of naira was given to him after the presidential elections and the fund was given to him out of goodwill. That the party did not sending to any individual in the state,”
“We thought we could adopt an internal mechanism to settle the matter however in his usual style of being crafty and adamant he called the elders of the party bluff and that was what he did when Peter Obi visited Osun for his Presidential Campaign Meanwhile, the stakeholders in the state had severally call on him to call for astakeholder’s meeting. He refused to do so. And who are the stakeholders, they ar in three categories: the State Working Committee / Local Government Party Chairmen across the 31 Local Government Areas. ”
He refused to do so instead he organized a kangaroo press conference and tagged suspension of national executive officer, the acting state chairman and 11 others.
“For clarity sake, as at this very moment Bello has no local government part chairmen with him. The 31 local government chairmen are solidly behind and they are with the National Legal Adviser, Barrister Akingbade Oyelekan and the state acting chairman, Mrs Suzan Ojo, gain, no Labour Party candidate is with him, no Obedient Movement group is with him. Dear Gentlemen of the Press you were there at his press conference you covered it.”
” Can you compare his to ours where we have both the candidates and the local party chairmen. We are very sure that yo witnessed how some of the rented persons walked out of the meeting.”
” according to the notice of the meeting he electronically sent to some of his people that the essence of calling for the meeting was to tell them the exact function that were sent to him from the party and how he shared the money instead staged a press conference.”
“He is hiding and taking advantage of the national crisis the party to deceive the public. This is an act that should be condemned by right thinking people. We are of a firm belief that Bello Adebayo is an agent of some unscrupulous members of different political parties.”
“Our support for Mr. Peter Obi is unadulterated he was the rallying point that gave our party the momentum we enjoyed during the general elections. We are solidly behind His Excellency Mr. Peter Obi, majority of Nigerians voted for him and it is very clear that he won the presidential elections.”
“We are optimistic that our Presidential candidate, His Excellency Mr Peter Obi and Dr Datti Baba-Ahmed would reclaim the stolen mandate through the tribunal, and other Labour Party candidates whose mandate were stolen. There is absolutely nothing Bello and his ilk can do to change the fact that he is a very corrupt individual of questionable character known to the party and the Obedient Movements in Osun state.”
“Today , the State Working Committee, the Labour party candidates and the 31 local government chairmen have passed vote of confidence on the national legal advis of the party Barrister Akingbade Oyelekan and the state acting chairman Chief Mrs. Suzan Ojo. And the said suspension by Bello is nullity because he has been suspended by the Bauchi NEC executive. Therefore, he should know that it is against the constitution of our party to act the way he acted, he cannot use illegality to axe the substance of law”.
“We therefore, pray for restoration of our mandate, which we worked for. May we not work with one hand and destroy our work with another. We worked for the best candidate who won and would not refrain from claiming our mandate.
In his reaction, the suspended chairman, Bello told our reporter that, “my suspension cannot stand as ward 12 of Osogbo local government does not have a substantive executive committee to suspend him and even our tenure as acting executive members has expired.
“With regards to funds, I am not aware of any N34 million, the only fund I received was N300,000 sent by Akin Osuntokun and it is verifiable. I am not aware of any fund during the presidential campaign rally in the state”, he submitted.