OYO state government on Wednesday alleged that it has uncovered a sinister plot by the self-styled Unity Forum, a dissident group within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), to burn down the state secretariat of the party situated at Oke Ado axis of Ibadan in their desperate bid to scuttle Saturday’s local government election and party congresses.
Also, the government hinted that it received intelligence that members of the group have been holding clandestine meetings at different locations in Ibadan to perfect the plot by recruiting thugs to carry out this hatchet job.
According to a statement issued by the Executive Assistant, Political to the Governor, Dr. Morounkola Thomas, disclosed that the group included some members of the House of Representatives, a minister, as well as former and serving political office holders
As a decoy, the state government said that the same set of people have been going around and granting press interviews claiming that the state Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, was after their lives.
The statement further said that the group has been meeting in the homes of two of their members in Bodija and Samonda areas of Ibadan, with a view to causing chaos and panic among the good people of Oyo State.
The government, however, warned the group to be prepared to bear the consequences of their planned action having taken precautionary measures to scuttle their plans, while it urged law-abiding citizens to go about their businesses without fear.
“Oyo State is peaceful and will remain peaceful with the support of every law-abiding citizen. The governor has been a peace-loving leader and chief promoter of peace in the last seven years of his administration.
“He will, therefore, not fold his arms and allow any group or individual, irrespective of status, to take the state back to the dark era of political brigandage and violence.
“The protesting members of the House of Representatives and their leaders are all beneficiaries of Governor Ajimobi’s generosity and should be grateful to him, instead of biting the fingers that fed them.
“We are aware that they are looking for relevance and the only way they can get this is by linking Governor Ajimobi to the imaginary threat to their lives and well-being. Would anyone planning to injure you inform you before the act? They should have come up with a more believable tale.
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“These are the governor’s political sons and I don’t know what will profit a father to kill his own son. The Almighty has been sufficiently good to him with every sense of modesty and he will not take issues further with them.
“All their tantrums are mere distractions and a plot to derail the governor from his focused cardinal objectives of transformation, reformation and repositioning agenda, which have indubitably transformed the face and fortunes of the state.
“It sounds unbelievable that the said Reps members and their ilk could claim that the same governor who single-handedly propelled them from political irrelevance to the limelight will now be plotting to take their lives.
“The ward congresses have come and gone. The congress committee and the so-called Unity Forum adjudged the congress to be free and fair. An appeal committee has been put in place and I will only advise those aggrieved with the outcome of the congress to explore the opportunity.
“The governor has turned his attention to the task for which he was elected for the second term by the good people of Oyo State and will not allow himself to be distracted by the noise of the marketplace. I will rather advise them to get busy with the business of lawmaking for which they were elected”.
