I Didn’t Order Thugs to Assault Ondo Party Chairman, Adetimehin, States Aiyedatiwa

• Elders condemn assault, say it shames party

Fidelis David in Akure

Ondo State Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, has denied allegations that he ordered thugs to disrupt a stakeholders’ meeting of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Akure, insisting that the violence was caused by miscreants backing rival aspirants.

Violence erupted at the secretariat on Tuesday after thugs armed with sticks, machetes and other dangerous objects, stormed the premises suddenly, threatened and chase party members out of the building.

Those attacked included State Caretaker Chairman, Ade Adetimehin, Success Thorukerijo, former member, Ondo State House of Assembly, Otito Atikase, Commissioner representing Ondo State on the Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Sola Ajisafe, Mrs Olamide Falana among others.

However, Aiyedatiwa who spoke late Tuesday night after leading party leaders from across the state to a rescheduled stakeholders’ meeting with members of the congress committees from the national secretariat at the party secretariat in Akure denied his involvement in the assault on the party leaders.

The governor’s clarification followed claims by Adetimehin, that hoodlums who assaulted him and other party leaders and disrupted the earlier gathering acted on the directive of the state government.

Giving account of what transpired, Aiyedatiwa said the earlier disturbance occurred because the meeting had been fixed without proper coordination and was later shifted on his advice.

“At about 11 a.m., I got a call from the party chairman that there was going to be a stakeholders’ meeting, which I approved. But I told them it should be fixed for 2 p.m. because I was attending the 50th birthday of one of our stakeholders, who is a cabinet member,” the governor said.

He explained that as governor, he usually attended all such meetings alongside the Speaker and the Deputy Governor.

“Normally, we have stakeholders’ meetings and I am always in attendance, together with the Speaker and the Deputy Governor. But this one was an impromptu meeting because of the ward and local government congresses.”

According to the governor, trouble started when some persons began gathering around the secretariat before the agreed time.

“Later, I got a call that there were some problems around the party secretariat. I immediately asked that the Commissioner of Police be contacted, and I also called him myself so that security operatives would be deployed to protect the place, because I was going to attend the meeting.”

He denied any role in sponsoring the violence, saying the disturbance was caused by rival groups loyal to different aspirants.

“What I was told was that some miscreants, who had sympathy for one aspirant or the other were moving around and trying to create fracas among themselves. The police assured me they would protect everybody, and they were deployed immediately.”

Responding directly to the allegation that he ordered the disruption of the meeting, the governor said the gathering earlier in the day was not the official stakeholders’ meeting.

“That one in the morning was not the stakeholders’ meeting. The real stakeholders’ meeting was shifted to 2 p.m. because I told the chairman I would not be able to make it earlier,” he said.

He added that most party leaders were at a birthday ceremony at the time of the disturbance, saying, “You can see the way I am dressed. I was at the birthday of one of the stakeholders who was also supposed to be here. That was why we asked them to shift the meeting to 2 p.m.

“I had already met with the Commissioner of Police and the Director of DSS that we were having congresses and that the main congress is tomorrow. They had already briefed their men across the state.

“In fact, the secretariat was secured by the police before we arrived. We then had a peaceful stakeholders’ meeting because the miscreants had been chased away.”

APC Elders Condemn Assault on Chairman, Appeal to Tinubu for Intervention

Meanwhile, the leadership of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu PBAT Mandate Elders Forum, Ondo State chapter, has described the the attack on Adetimehin, and other stalwarts of the party as an affront to party values and democratic culture.

The group, led by its chairman, Erastus Akeju, spoke at a press conference in Akure, following the violent disruption of a stakeholders’ meeting at the APC secretariat on Tuesday and alleged assault on Adetimehin among other leaders of the party, believed to be loyal to the Minister of Interior, Bunmi Tunji-Ojo.

Akeju, who was represented by Mr Demola Ijabiyi, said the beating and public humiliation of Adetimehin and other party elders by hoodlums, who invaded the party office was most unfortunate and wholly unacceptable.

 “The violent assault and public humiliation of the Ondo State APC Chairman, together with other respected elders and stakeholders, by persons who chose confrontation over dialogue, is deeply disturbing.

“Political engagement must never descend into lawlessness. When disagreement loses the discipline of civility, the seed of bitterness is sown,” he said.

The elder statesman warned that violence and intimidation posed grave dangers to internal democracy.

“Let it be stated clearly: intimidation, thuggery and violence have no place in a democratic environment. Our party was built on dialogue, persuasion and collective purpose, not on fear or coercion.

“We respectfully call on the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and leader of our great party to lend his moral authority toward restoring calm, ensuring accountability and reaffirming that violence can never be a pathway to political relevance,” he said.