By Temitope Adedeji
The All Progressives Congress APC in Ondo State has condemed the activities of the major opposition PDP in the state and said things are been taken too far by the party.
In a statement made available to newsmen, the Chairman of the party, Engr Ade Adetehin, said the actions of the party is becoming mischivous and callous.
According to the statement, “The APC in Ondo State continues to be bewildered by the unhealthy symptoms of total degeneracy that continues to characterise the attitude of the PDP and its candidate in the last gubernatorial election, Mr Eyitayo Jegede, SAN.
“We had refrained from engaging them all these while, believing sanity will eventually prevail but that seems obviously impossible as desperation and an unethical approach to playing politics is becoming their hallmark.
“However in the interest of our State and its people, we have decided to react to two odious actions of these desperadoes:
“(1) We take due notice of Nseobong Okon-Ekong’s review of the verdict of the Court of Appeal on Jegede’s appeal of the Election Petition Tribunal in This Day Newspaper of June 22nd, and condemn it as a poor attempt by Jegede and his hirelings to alter the facts and details of the matter, and paint the Judiciary bad in the estimation of the people, as this is viciously ungentlemanly, dishonest and disappointing. The writer was recruited to portray an opinion, patently designed to introduce incredulity into the judgement of the Court of Appeal.
(2) We also take serious view of a press statement issued by the PDP to the effect that Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, has negotiated with the Supreme Court Judges to compromise justice and favor him outrightly in the matter before their Lordships. According to the PDP, the sum of over N3.8 billion which represents workers wage bill has been pledged to the Honourable Justices of the Supreme Court.
“We find this attitude and behaviour insolent, mischievous, unwholesome and absolutely in bad taste.
“While we will not attempt to hold brief for the Supreme Court Judges, we however want to put on record, that it is absolutely bad manners that will make anyone to comfortably manufacture falsehood and attempt to shoot down the integrity of these Judges and the Judiciary institution they represent.
(3) We however wish to reiterate that Governor Oluwaotimi Akeredolu, SAN, does not engage Honourable Justices in any discussion over any matter before them, and this continues to represent the hallmark of his practice as a senior lawyer who has an unmitigated and irrevocable commitment to upholding the tenets of justice and fair play.
(4) The APC-led government will not, for any reason, deploy the resources of the State to the pursuance of any individual interest. The party therefore urges the people of Ondo State and workforce to disregard this petty insinuation that the funds meant for salaries would be deployed to other purposes. That is not consistent with the character of our Governor, Arakunrin Akeredolu.
(5) We however wish to restate that while we patiently wait for the resolution of this matter before the Supreme Court, it is important to underscore the fact that Jegede and the PDP are not challenging the result of the October 10th 2020 governorship election, where the APC won outstandingly in fifteen out of the eighteen local governments, while the PDP won in only three. Rather they are pursuing an interloping technical issue that concerns the APC alone.
(6) We respect and appreciate the electoral expressions of the people as validly represented by the election results, and will continue to do all to uphold and protect same.
(7) While we sympathise with the PDP over its lost of focus, the pitiable decay and degeneracy that continues to confound and permeate it, our commitment to maintaining decency and civility will not be compromised. Thus we will not permit them to drag Ondo State into any crisis because of a failed ambition.”
The statement further added that “therefore, we wish to congratulate all those staunch and credible leaders of the PDP that have signaled their intention to join us and further encourage other patriots in that Party to equally consider an exit and join hands with us to develop our dear Sunshine State.”
