Osun PDP, APC Trade Words Over Alleged Arms Buildup

The Peoples Democratic Party and the opposition All Progressives Congress in Osun on Saturday, traded words over allegations of arms stockpiling.

PDP had in a statement by its chairman, Mr. Sunday Bisi, warned the APC not to undermine the peace being enjoyed in the state.

Bisi noted that the party was reacting to claims of threats to life and the attendant reactions from various factions of the leading opposition party in the state.

The party chairman appealed to security agencies to be on the alert to claims and counterclaims of threats to life and frowned at attempts by the APC to push the state back into the dark days of political assassinations on mundane issues of political differences.

The statement read in part, “We appeal to both the aggressors and the bullied caucuses in the opposition fold to sheath their swords and allow peace to reign in the state.

“The PDP administration led by our amiable Governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke, will not tolerate any attempt by any political group or association to interject the prevailing peace in the state with horrible assassination attempts on the life of anyone, political party affiliations notwithstanding.

“A situation where political actors in the APC threaten themselves openly and with reckless abandon, is unacceptable, as it is inimical to the peace of the state which was engineered and sustained since assumption of office of the PDP administration a little over a year ago.

“Using violence to impose unpopular political narratives on the people is no longer tenable. Everybody must go about his political businesses in peace and as obtainable in a civilised society. ”

The PDP alleged arms build-up among opposition politicians saying, “We are not unaware of the arms buildup by a faction of the APC, which is the reason for their naked effrontery of issuing threats to their perceived political opponents. Such an evil plan will be thwarted by every means possible under the law.”

But in a swift reaction, Osun APC chairman, Tajudeen Lawal, urged the PDP leadership to desist from selling dummy to the public on the true position of the security of the state.

Lawal who lampooned the PDP chairman for raising alarm over alleged arms build-up, said it was strange that such an allegation about threat to peace and security could be elevated by a party leader.

The APC chairman’s statement read in part, “Has Sunday Bisi forgotten so soon the series of threats by some of the leaders of the PDP in Ikire, Ikirun, Iwo, Osogbo, Ilesa, etc, against the APC members and our supporters before the violence-soaked and pungently rigged elections in the state?”

He also alleged that some PDP chieftains are making moves to secure the release of some of their members being prosecuted for various offences.

“But at the appointed time, the long hand of the law shall catch up with them and they will be forced to give full account of criminality perpetrated against our members,” he added.