The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) says it has concluded plans to drag the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and its candidate, Senator Ademola Adeleke before State Election Petition Tribunal.
Chairman of the party in the state, Prince Gboyega Famodun, who made the disclosure at a press conference held at the party Secretariat, Osogbo, the state capital on Thursday, stated that there was no cause for alarm as the party is going to reclaim its mandate through legal means.
According to Famodun, the party and Governor Gboyega Oyetola’s legal counsels thave a very good case at the tribunal.
He expressed optimism that the will of the people over the July 16 gubernatorial election shall prevail.
He said: “We are going to the Tribunal and our lawyers has let us know that we have good cases at the Tribunal.”
Speaking on the anti-party activities allegations leveled against former governor of the state and current Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and his supporters, Famodun said the party has set up a machinery to investigate, assuring that all the erring party members shall be dealt with in accordance with party’s constitution.
“Whether the party’s constitution allows punishment of any earring member. As it is, there is a room for discipline within the party constitution but it must be legally followed,” he said.
“We have set up a machinery to investigate the activities of these individuals in their different wards, we will get report from the ward chairmen as how they have been behaving in their wards in the past few years.
“It will be interesting to know that we are so magnanimous enough. I read in my speech that some of them had not been showing up with the party for the past three years.
“They threw caution into the wind as they believe that what they are doing is quite right. So we called for the ward chairmen to write report on all of them and the constitution of the party will be used to deal with their different offences as it occurs to us and that’s on that.
“If we remind you how all the lieutenants and followers of Aregbesola had been boasting that they would ensure that Governor Oyetola would not be re-elected in the last July 16, 2022, governorship election.
“Surprisingly, Aregbesola and his group of ever belligerent and bellicose supporters actually acted to type by openly campaigning and subsequently voting against Governor Oyetola in the election, which was part of the reasons for the current plight of our party in our state.
“It was on record that the Interior Minister never took part in any of our governorship campaign while he also jetted out of the country during the election in order not to take part in such an important election in his state where he is the highest beneficiary by way of an appointment as a minister.
“As if that was not enough, the group under the chairmanship of one Elder Adebiyi Adelowo, the former state Acting Chairman of the APC, went into a wild jubilation after the declaration of the results of the governorship election where the national umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the Peoples Democratic Party’s candidate, Senator Ademola Adeleke, the winner of the election.”