Sodiq Yusuf
Former Chairman of the All Progressives Congress in the State of Osun, Revd. ‘Lowo Adebiyi has taken swipe at reports ascribing the nomination of some former members of the defunct The Osun Progressives (TOP) as members of Governor Ademola Adeleke’s cabinet to former Governor Rauf Aregbesola, describing them as ‘blackmailers.’
In a statement on Sunday, Adebiyi said the nomination of Barr. Kolapo Alimi and Dr. ‘Biyi Odunlade was not connected with the defunct TOP or the former Minsiter, as the duo did not have anything to do with the PDP, pre July 16, 2022, and the 2023 general elections.
While noting that the reports of ‘compensation’ are baseless and untrue, Adebiyi wondered why a group that led the APC to the loss of major elections by its high handedness and mindless political accusations against TOP, will ascribes its severe electoral loss to Aregbesola or the tendency, who it disparaged before the polls.
The former party chairman explained in the statement that the attachment of the nominations to Ogbeni Aregbesola and the defunct TOP is a plot by the IleriOluwa group to paint the former Governor black, urging it to stop chasing shadow.
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Ilerioluwa Caucus On Another Failed Blackmail Attempt
Our attention has been drawn to jaundiced reports apparently sponsored by some groups of politically naive elements in Osun APC, mischievously reporting that Governor Ademola Adeleke nominated Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola/The Osun Progressives men for cabinet positions.
The writers of the reports gave themselves away as mischief makers or confused persons when they falsely stated that Kolapo Alimi Esq who had decamped to PDP for close to two years now is a member of defunct TOP.
Like the writers stated, a lot of speculations and deliberate misinformation had been made by the electorally injured group, Ilerioluwa within our party, the APC, with a view to affix the reason for their self-imposed defeat on TOP. We of the defunct TOP had evidently rebuffed all the baseless and mindless political accusations against us by those who had and are still making mess of the once upon a time viable APC in the state. We note that the sponsored report on the appointment of both Alimi and Dr Biyi Odunlade is another attempt of the failed mission to blackmail us.
We note that the 2022 and 2023 electoral loss that the arrogant Ilerioluwa group suffered could be very painful to the extent of affecting their rational thinking, but may we remind them that they are the architects of their own misfortune with their empty boasts and grandstanding on their near nonexistent prowess and excluding majority of party members from the process.
Again, like they kept speculating, Hon. Biyi Odunlade was speculated to have joined PDP in not too distant past and it would be recalled that TOP had been dissolved since last year, hence it may be an academic exercise to categorically state correctly his status politically.
Of course, we can’t deny the fact that the two gentlemen were TOP members, but we state in categorical terms that they must have earned their nominations by their merits and not on behalf of defunct TOP or as a “compensation” as mischievously reported by the pro-IleriOluwa caucus reporters.
We reiterate that this is yet another opportunity for the political loafers in Ilerioluwa group to attempt to blackmail defunct TOP members and Aregbesola, and we are not in any doubt that they will continue to agonise over their woeful but avoidable loss of the July 16, 2022 governorship and the 2023 general elections.
We had for long noticed the wicked moves by the IleriOluwa gladiators to continue their fruitless onslaught on Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola with the intention of painting him black before well-meaning and rational leaders and members of the APC. But as they continue in their evident journey of political perdition, so is Aregbesola’s popularity soaring. We advise the IleoriOluwa gladiators to stop chasing shadow.
We shouted ourselves hoarse about the degenerated state of the party but their lack of political understanding aided by selfishness, self-deceit, grandstanding, arrogance and false hope, didn’t allow them to see our call for party restructuring for election wining purposes.
We restate our commitment to the APC, the Progressives platform which we worked assiduously for its reinstatement into government in 2010, costing us sweat and blood along with other patriots after the manipulative debacle of 2003.
We state again that Governor Adeleke was referring to the defunct TOP members that joined PDP and not the entire caucus and that the original TOP with Ogbeni Aregbesola as Patron did not engage the Osun PDP at any time.
Adelowo Adebiyi
Former Chairman
Osun APC
