Oyelese advises Makinde again, says ‘your re-election tied to Atiku’s success’

BY STEPHEN GBADAMOSI

A former Minister of Power and Steel, Elder Wole Oyelese, has declared that the second term ambition of governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo state lies in the success of the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

Oyelese, who spoke with journalists in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, on Thursday, advised Makinde to “fully retrace his steps to where he made it to the top, in order to realise his second term ambition.”

Governor Makinde is one of the governors under the auspices of G5. The five governors had stated that they would not support Atiku, unless the national chairman of the party, Dr. Iyorcha Ayu, resigned.

Oyelese, who is a chieftain of the PDP in the state, however, maintained that it was Makinde who needed Atiku to win the second term and not the other way round.

The former minister, while advising Makinde to rescind his decision, insisted that all PDP members in Oyo State, “including more than 95 per cent of Mankinde’s appointees,” had been working for months and would vote for Atiku in the February 25th election, noting that Makinde really had nothing to offer whoever Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, eventually decided to support in the presidential election.

He described the situation in which Makinde was still campaigning without a mention of Atiku as betrayal, especially after the state’s party chairman had appeared at the Mapo campaign rally, “ostensibly on Mankind’s instruction.”

He, however, said that leaders of the party loyal to Atiku were not surprised about “this attitude,” but quickly added that a situation in which Makinde would be holding on to the governorship ticket of the party while working against the presidential candidate of the party was unacceptable.

While insisting that the credit heaped on Makinde for the massive crowd at the rallies was misplaced, Oyelese said that any such praise was a disservice to the leaders of the party loyal to Alhaji Atiku “who have been working assiduously for months, mobilising for the noble cause.”

He pointed out that the truth was that over 90 per cent of the crowd at the rallies was true lovers of the Atiku cause and mobilised by his loyalists, claiming that they truly knew themselves in Oyo State politics and stressing that unknown to many, “even all the local government party chairmen were withdrawn from the rallies on the orders of the governor; and where were the elected local government chairmen? But this means nothing really, as most of them are the good people who will vote for Atiku on election day with their people.

“Makinde lacks the capacity to upturn the popular sentiment in Oyo State which is in support of Atiku. Anyone doubting that should recall what happened during his flag-off at Mapo when the people were chorusing Atiku’s name in the presence of the G-5 governors.

“Even Wike, in all his shenanigans, was silenced by the crowd of Atiku’s supporters and the programme came to an abrupt end. I see the current situation as an act of treachery; when you belong to a political party and you are working against the presidential candidate of that party.

“It is Seyi that needs Atiku and not Atiku that needs him, because Oyo State people have made up their minds to support Atiku. I can bet it with anybody that even in Makinde’s government, majority of the political appointees, 95 per cent of them is working for Atiku.

“So, the game is up; he should rescind his decision. A situation where he is campaigning and he is not mentioning Atiku is unacceptable to us. Since it is beyond speculations now that Wike is working for Tinubu, Seyi is definitely treading on dangerous grounds by not openly breaking ranks with Wike at this time and openly supporting Atiku to ensure his second term in office.

“Makinde cannot tell us that he is not working for Tinubu by not campaigning for Atiku. Things don’t work that way in politics. The idea being peddled around by an individual who cannot be placed, that Makinde is working for Atiku, is the highest level of deception and a lie from the pit of hell.

“It is all the tactics and machinations of an ambitious baby politician who is desperate to gain relevance without learning the ropes about Oyo State politics. I have heard Seyi with my own ears on Agidigbo FM and Fresh FM asking the people of Oyo State where he was campaigning to vote for his candidate for the Senate and the House of Representatives without a mention of Atiku for presidency. What more does anyone needs to know as to where Makinde is heading.

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“The bottom line is that Makinde should campaign openly for Atiku, or else, it will be taken that he has made a statement in line with what the G5 governors have been saying and this is dangerous for his second term ambition. Makinde should know That Wike has lost it.

“So, in conclusion, Atiku should not lose any sleep over Oyo State. Oyo is a done deal for him. Only the deep can call to the deep in Oyo State politics. The state’s politics cannot be truly understood by these new comers. Everyone in Oyo State is fed up with eight years of suffering and hunger engineered by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration and people really thirst after Atiku to come and make a difference,” Oyelese said.