Osun Guber: Oyetola’s Loyalist Tackles Basiru, Denies APC UK Endorsement
A former media assistant to ex-Governor Adegboyega Oyetola, Tunmise Ajiboye, has faulted reports of endorsement of the National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ajibola Basiru, by the APC UK Chapter, as the preferred governorship candidate of the party in the forthcoming election in Osun State.
Ajiboye, who is the current Deputy Youth Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the United Kingdom, described the news as misleading and imaginary.
OSUN DEFENDER reports that Basiru and at least five others have shown interest in clinching the gubernatorial ticket of the APC to contest against incumbent Governor Ademola Adeleke.
Ajiboye, in a statement made available to OSUN DEFENDER on Monday, said there was no time the chapter met as a body to adopt Basiru as the preferred candidate of the party.
He noted that what some media termed as an endorsement by the chapter was a mere individual expression of their preferences for a particular governorship aspirant.
According to him, “I am constrained to make a clarification on the purported endorsement granted the governorship bid of the APC National Secretary, Senator Surajudeen Ajibola Basiru (SRJ) by a section of the UK chapter of our party, APC.
“I want to make it abundantly clear that the said endorsement was a ruse as there was no time the Chapter took a decision to support a particular aspirant in an election that would take place in Osun State – an election that may have no bearing on the existence and well-being of the APC UK Chapter.
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“I am aware that some individuals, many of whom are executives of the party in the UK, converged over the weekend to express their choice of candidate as allowed by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“However, what is strange is that the said decision of the individuals was construed and heightened to be the decision of the entire chapter. That is not correct. That is pure mischief. Many of us in the executives of the chapter were not present at the meeting.
“So why should a decision made by few individuals, made in their personal capacity, be coloured by the media to be the decision of the whole executive or the entire chapter?”, he queried.
“While it is correct that many of us who are executive members of the Chapter may have individual preferences, based on previous experiences and personal relationships with some of the chieftains jostling for the APC gubernatorial ticket in the State of the Living Spring, I hold that it is not reasonable that such individual preferences should be elevated to equate the collective decision of the Chapter.
“I have on many occasions expressed my deep reservations about how leaderships of APC chapters across the world have used the platforms of their chapters to advance personal and pecuniary gains at the expense of the collective integrity of the entire memberships.
“And I feel strongly again, in this instance of our chapter, that such an approach by some individuals in the APC UK Chapter, who personalised their offices to drive a divisive agenda over the weekend, should not be tolerated. It is capable of endangering and limiting our relationships with other aspirants in the contest, and of course casting us in bad light in the event the adopted or endorsed aspirant does not later emerge as the party flag-bearer in Osun,” he added.
Olamilekan Adigun is a graduate of Mass Communication with years of experience in journalism embedded in uncovering human interest stories. He also prioritises accuracy and factual reportage of issues.
