Ondo APC crisis deepens, as Ilori fingers Akeredolu for Buhari’s loss in state

The crisis rocking the Ondo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) may have entered a new dimension, as a chieftain of the party and former Commissioner for Regional Integration in Osun State, Mr Bola Ilori has accused Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu as being the architect of disunity within the ruling APC in Ondo state.

Ilori said the governor’s actions caused the failure of President Muhammed Buhari in the state during the last election.

According to him, his vindictive traits has aided disharmony within Ondo APC, stressing that it was strange for a man that has become governor for years to still be grudging on an intra-party primary that preceded his tenure.

Ilori, an indigene of Ondo State in a statement noted that the open exposure of the fraud that lined his way to the Government House was never at rest.

He recalled that the party’s Appeal Panel annulled the primaries that produced Akeredolu due to glaring fraud, stressing that the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party never agreed to the emergence of Akeredolu,

but the Oyegun/Saraki conspiracy of that era, allegedly and unilaterally submitted Akeredolu’s name to INEC and allegedly mobilised huge funds for his victory to become an’ imposed’ Governor in Ondo State.

He said “Some of us could not stand such shenanigan led by Chief John Odigie-Oyegun. We followed the party’s internal mechanism, but it was unilaterally terminated by the then National Chairman.

“Subsequently, we left the party in the expression of our democratic rights on the platform of another party in agitation against the clear injustice. We lost the elections.

“It was well reported on national headlines that Akeredolu organised an attack on me at the venue of an official government assignment in Akure.

We were to go to court, but some elders of the party led by Chief Bisi Akande, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Chief Pius Akinyelure and others intervened.

“They appealed to all aggrieved against the gubernatorial election processes to drop all further agitation and return to the party and embrace unity. The governor thereafter organised a unity rally and I attended.

“Chief Olusola Oke has since been working hard for the success of the party and was the South West Coordinator of the APC Presidential Campaign, while I, who was his Director General in the AD, was the Chairman of the APC Presidential Campaign Council (Field Operations) Door – Door Campaign throughout the Country.

“Akeredolu’s anti-party activity would have been justifiable as a payback were it to be that their mischief were directed against either Oke or Ilori, but neither of us were on the ballot, but President Buhari and our National Assembly candidates.

“I was not holding any position in the party or government six months before and after the 2016 elections, contrary to their claims that I was in Osun Government while in AD, Osun had no cabinet for about 16 months at the time. So, dragging Aregbesola into their justification of treachery is not only based on falsehood but pure mischief.”

Speaking further, he said “I also wish to place on the record that, as the Director General of the Alliance for Democracy campaigns in 2016, I don’t have any record of funding received from Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola or Senator Ajayi Boroffice for the AD.

“I dare Akeredolu and his team to come up with such fact. Let it be noted that neither Asiwaju Tinubu nor Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola directed us to the AD nor funded the party.

They did not campaign for the party to the best of my record also. If any of Akeredolu minions is in possession of substantive evidence against any of our leaders let such fellow come forward with it or forever keep their peace.

“We as adult have rights to our independent actions and Tinubu never encourage sycophancy, he promotes robust intellectual discuss and don’t see dissent as a crime, yet we voluntarily hold him in high esteem,” he said.