APC Accuses PDP of Sponsoring Ikire Violence

— Says Oyebamiji, Governorship Aspirants Are Peace-Loving

 

The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of orchestrating the latest round of violence in Ikire, Irewole Local Government Area of the state.

In a statement issued on Sunday by its State Chairman, Sooko Tajudeen Lawal, the APC dismissed as false the PDP’s claim that members of the AMBO Movement—a mobilization team loyal to one of the party’s governorship aspirants, Asiwaju Bola Oyebamiji—were responsible for the killing of a person in Ikire.

Lawal described the PDP’s allegation as “a calculated attempt to malign the image of a peace-loving aspirant,” adding that neither Oyebamiji nor his team had any connection to the incident.

“The PDP’s misinformation is nothing but an attempt to give a dog a bad name in order to hang it. Their devilish plot to implicate Asiwaju Oyebamiji has collapsed like a pack of cards,” Lawal said.

According to the APC chairman, preliminary findings revealed that the fracas in Ikire was actually an attack on APC members by PDP thugs, some of whom had been arrested and were currently under investigation.

He further alleged that those apprehended had confessed to being members of the PDP and had named other party thugs involved in the violence.

“Our governorship aspirant had no scheduled event in Ikire at the time of the incident. The PDP spokesman should be questioned by security agencies for this baseless and weighty allegation,” Lawal stated.

The party called on the Nigeria Police Force and the Department of State Services (DSS) to urgently investigate the killing, warning that the PDP was known for “creating alibis to cover up its crimes.”

Lawal also noted that throughout the APC’s statewide consultation tour covering all 30 local government areas and Modakeke Area Office, there was no record of violence.

He alleged that the renewed unrest in Ikire stemmed from a disagreement among PDP thugs over the sharing of iron rods excavated by a contractor handling a road project linked to a PDP senator representing the Osun West Senatorial District.

“All our governorship aspirants have conducted themselves peacefully across the state. Any attempt by the PDP to pin this heinous act on them will fail,” Lawal declared.

He advised the ruling party to “return to the drawing board” and desist from manufacturing lies against the opposition.

> “The legs of their buried lies have been exposed,” the APC chairman added.