Labour party raises the stake in Osun

BY GBENGA OLARINOYE

THE last governorship election in Ondo State in which the incumbent governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko of Labour Party, LP was declared the winner of the contest by the has suddenly re-awakened the opposition in the Southwest region of the country. It is a region where the Action Congress of Nigeria ACN has until now held sway.

Of particular note now is the effort by the Labour Party to now spread its tentacles into the neighbouring Osun State.

The Labour Party in Osun state has as its arrow head, Chief Bankole Afilaka who is the chairman of the caretaker committee of the party. He was appointed following the suspension of its embattled chairman, Comrade Rufus Oyatoro who was accused of maladministration and anti party activities. Oyatoro’s travail began following his acceptance to serve in the Osun Truth and Reconciliation Commission TRC set up by governor Rauf Aregbesola on assumption of office in 2010.

Oyatoro was specifically accused of accepting reward to serve on the TRC. Oyatoro has since promptly refuted the allegations. The National secretariat of the Labour Party, however, ratified the suspension of the chairman.

But barely three days after the announcement of Mimiko as the winner of the Ondo election, Chief Afilaka in a session with selected journalists asked President Goodluck Jonathan, the State Security Service SSS, the Economic and Financial Crime Commission EFCC and other security agencies in the country to properly investigate the role allegedly played by Aregbesola in the Ondo governorship election.

Afilaka said that the activities of Aregbesola in the last few weeks should be investigated by the Federal Government if truly President Jonathan is the Chief Security Officer of the country.

But  the Director of Publicity, Research and Strategy of the ACN in the state, Mr Kunle Oyatomi retorted “The Labour Party’s accusation against Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola would have been ignored but for the fact that it contains stupidly wild allegations against the Governor which the party did not bother to substantiate.”

“If the party thinks it has evidence of its wild allegations, we advise them to go to court, but if they don’t have the courage to do that, then they are advised to keep their mouths shut and stop polluting the air with foul language of corruption which they cannot prove,” he added.

Afilaka alleged that Aregbesola abandoned government activities in the state which he was elected to perform during the electioneering campaign of the ACN Governorship candidate in Ondo state, Mr Oluwarotimi Akeredolu.

He also challenged Aregbesola to explain to the people of the state how much he spent to finance the governorship campaign of the ACN in Ondo State, alleging that the governor committed huge amount of money to the Ondo state governorship election.

He said “We hereby demand an open apology from Aregbesola for abandoning his primary functions as the Governor of Osun state and concentrating on Ondo state.”

“The LP in Osun state is now more than ever before , galvanized for victory in all the future elections in the state. It is the only credible opposition party in Osun state. To our credit since the victory of Mimiko in Ondo state there have been influx of new members particularly from the ruling ACN into our party. Aregbesola has mismanaged the resources of Osun state since his assumption of office two years ago.”

“It is only in LP that there is no god fatherism and no economic slavery. Mimiko who is a symbol of change has clearly demonstrated that you can win an election fair and square without influence of money, without political thuggery and with no god father supporting you.”

Afilaka also stated that governor Aregbesola as the chief security officer of Osun state should not be seen to be fomenting trouble not only in the state but in other states. “How can you spend such a colossal amount of money to pursue a misadventure in Ondo state? President Goodluck and EFCC should probe him how much he spent there, how can you use the state fund to fund insurgency if Aregbesola is properly probed and investigated this will go a long way in checking his excesses.”

He also claimed that the ACN had on several occasions invited the Labour Party to come and join it in the administration of the state, “but we said no that we do not want to fraternize with the ACN because we do not have confidence in the present administration in the state and that is why we have been turning down their invitations. We don’t want any political patronage, all we want is that Osun must be free from god fatherism and economic slavery.”

Mimiko who enjoyed the support of Chief Afilaka in the last election was quoted to have told his political admirers and supporters after his re-election to make incursion into the Southwest politics particularly the neighbouring Ekiti and Osun states and threatened to ensure that those two states are lost to Labour.