Yusuf Oketola
THE State of Osun chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the activities of the Osun Masterminds, an Osun-based civil society group as fraudulent.
According to the PDP, The Osun Masterminds, have affiliation and working with the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Governor Adegboyega Oyetola’s administration in particular.
In a statement signed by the Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr. Ayodeji Areola, the PDP accused members of the group of being the leaders and at the same time followers of many ‘mushroom Civil Societies Organisations with which they allegedly dupe political parties, governments and unsuspecting individuals.
The PDP was reacting to a press statement issued by the group to condemn the killings and violence that greeted the Ward Congress of the party last week.
It would be recalled that The Osun Masterminds had in a statement last Saturday, charged participating political parties in the July 16, 2022 gubernatorial election in the state to scrutinise individuals they are presenting as their party’s candidate for the gubernatorial office to ensure capability of delivering quality leadership.
The group, which explained that politics was beyond the theatrics of archaic politicking, singing and dancing, added that it should be more about debate of ideas.
Reacting to the statement, the PDP asked the group “to desist from arrogating to itself any garment of a watchdog as the characters involved were mere seasonal recliners who pop up with slander and blackmails for purpose of patronage after crafty underhand biddings.”
The party said the group lacks the moral standings to condemn such a great democratic exercise.
The statement reads in part: “The group and the constituent characters expecting the good people of the State to take them serious on their voyage is akin to convoluted illusion when these same people were in the State as APC and their warlords were openly planting seeds of terror around with institutionalised thuggery under the appellations of ‘State Boys’ and the likes.
“Rushing to the media only after the successful conduct of our congress merely gave out the Masterminds as masterminds of mischief and belly filling busybodies.
“Our great party has sufficiently distanced itself from any APC orchestrated violence on the day of our congress and we believe security operatives are on the trail of the perpetrators with a view of unravelling the unscrupulous masterminds of the isolated fracas in Iwo and Ife North local government areas.”
The party advised The Osun Masterminds to face the heat enveloping the APC, warning members of the group to desist from inglorious activities.
“This warning is made in good faith as our great party has seen through the shenanigans of the unscrupulous elements disguised as a civil body to confuse our people, and we would not hesitate to expose their shameless antics to the whole world.
“These elements of three or four characters we have found out, are the leaders and at the same time followers of the many mushroom CSOs with which they used to dupe political parties, governments and unsuspecting individuals.
“Such elements in our view, must not be allowed a continuous reign of causing unwarranted disaffection in our society for the purpose of lining their pockets against the general wellbeing of the good people of the State,” the party concluded.
