The duo of former Governor Gboyega Oyetola and House of Assembly Speaker, Timothy Owoeye, have come under attacks for their consistent anti-democratic posture, unrepentant hatred for ballot boxes and anti-people agenda over the election of Governor Ademola Adeleke.
Reacting to a statement credited to Owoeye that Oyetola will return as governor on July 5, the State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Adekunle Akindele and the Director-General of Atiku-Okowa Campaign Council in Osun State, Sunday Bisi, in a statement, yesterday, accused the House Speaker of betraying his oath office, undermining sanctity of state authority and colluding to destabilise a state where he is heading an arm of government.
The duo, in the statement, said: “We at first decried the failure of the Speaker to respect the office he is occupying, to rise above petty partisan politics and to tell the truth to Oyetola who of recent has been listening to devil’s whispering. We condemn in no small measure the lack of courage and demise of statesmanship demonstrated by the House Speaker who today openly revolted against the will of Osun people and who has unashamedly embraced ignoble falsehood and propaganda of a defeated Oyetola.
“We had thought the House Speaker has risen to act like a statesman, like former American Vice President, Mike Pence, who at the most critical moment faced up to his boss, Trump, to tell him that American voters are supreme to a sit-tight leader who was ready to destroy democracy. Unfortunately, Owoeye today failed the test as rather than face the election denier, the small Trump of Osun, he weakly adopted the path of little tyrants who detest the people and all what democracy represents.
“We are at the same time alarmed that a sitting House Speaker has openly exposed a sinister agenda to undermine the integrity of the judiciary by making proclamations on a matter that is subjudice. We want to put it on record that it is against protocol, against democratic sense of judgment and against all civilised norms to pre-empt judicial outcomes. The House Speaker should apologise to the judiciary, retract his reprehensible statement and summon courage to exit puppet garb of supposed leader who is worshipping at the feet of a man incapable of listening to the voice of God.”
“As a political party, we are convinced and rightly so that the Speaker’s fanciful wish is a grand hallucination. Governor Ademola Adeleke is a duly elected governor of Osun State who was robbed in 2018 but whose victory was widely confirmed and validated in 2022 by God, the people and even President Muhammadu Buhari, the leader of the Speaker’s party.
“In case the House Speaker is also listening to devil’s whispering, we affirm that the voice of the people is the voice of God. In case the Speaker is only massaging Oyetola’s ego, we urge him to be a Mr. Pence, and telling the truth to Trumpists. If Owoeye is however serious about his unpopular outburst, let him know that nobody rises against the people and win. The people rule and they are solidly with Governor Ademola Adeleke,” the statement further stated.
Adekunle and Bisi, while calling on the people of Osun State to rebuke the APC at the ballot in February, reminded them of the lies and deceit of the APC as a party that brought untold hardship on the state and Nigeria as a whole, asserting that rejecting the APC at all levels is the best response to a gang hell bent on sustaining their evil reign on the nation.
“Reject them at the polls in February by voting PDP candidates at state and national levels. Send them packing as you had done in Osun. Rebuke them and let them know that Imole must shine across the country,” they concluded.
(Guardian NGR)