…Says Osoba, Other AD Governors, Victims Of Their Treachery
The last, no doubt, has not been heard about the autobiography of Chief Bisi Akande, former governor of Osun State and first chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The book, “My Participation,” with a foreword written by Prof Wole Soyinka, was presented to the public with a fanfare in Lagos last week.
The occasion was graced by political heavy weights, mostly of the APC, including President Muhammadu Buhari.
But ever since, the book has elicited very strong reactions from Nigerians, who disputed Akande’s account of what happened.
The latest is Chief Ayo Adebanjo, the leader of the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere.
In an interview on Arise Television Tuesday morning, Adebanjo disputed most of Akande’s claims in the book, calling him a pathological liar.
Said he: “He (Bisi Akande) is too junior to me to be commenting on political matters. He is a political neophyte. He is already known to me as a pathological liar. His colleague, Akinfenwa, in his book said that is who he is. And those of us who know him also know. He is just an apron string of Tinubu.
“He is too junior for me to be commenting on what he said. I signed his papers to be governor. And the condition we gave for him to become governor was that of sovereign national conference for the restructuring of the country back to federalism. That was the condition he was elected in 1999 and he reneged on that.
“We call all of them – Bola Tinubu, Segun Osoba to warn when they reneged. They have sold out the Yoruba race to Muhammadu Buhari all because they want Tinubu to be president. That is not my business.
“But telling lies is the one I don’t know and I don’t know how a man like Akande who claims that we all come from the root of Obafemi Awolowo can be taking pride in his participation in the government of one, Buhari, who they know is a disaster when all those who supported him initially are now regretting that they supported him.
“There is no sensible man who will come out now and say he is proud of Buhari. It shows the type of character he is. So, he is too junior for me to be commenting on what he said.”
Eighteen years after the 2003 general election in which five governors elected on the platform of the now defunct Alliance for Democracy (AD) lost power in their reelection bid to candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the leader of Afenifere, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, said he has no pity for them.
AD was one of the political parties that ushered in the Fourth Republic in 1999 and was driven mainly by leaders of the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural association, Afenifere.
But Adebanjo said he has no pity for Osoba and his colleagues.
Adebanjo said Osoba and his colleagues were victims of their own betrayal of the principle of truth.
“It is as a result of their betrayal. Osoba and the rest made an agreement with Obasanjo behind us to despise the leaders of Afenifere because we were claiming that we were responsible for their election. And they wanted to say that they can win election without us.
“So, they made a deal behind us with Obasanjo and at the end of the day, Obasanjo kicked them out. They got the result of treachery. They were thinking that the man will keep to his word and they will claim to have won election without the support of leaders of Afenifere. That was what took them to that disaster.
“So, it is a business between them and Obasanjo and not between them and Afenifere because it was an act of betrayal. They thought that they could get rid of the leaders of Afenifere and can then claim to have won election on their own.
“And Obasanjo tricked them. That was why, after the election, Osoba was interviewed and he said ‘Oh! Obasanjo betrayed an agreement.’ What does he mean betraying an agreement? What agreement did they make with him?
“So, it is an act of betrayal. They wanted to be in power willy-nilly at the expense of philosophy, principle and at the expense of the truth and at the expense of the interest of the Yoruba people. And they are getting the result.
“Even the alliance which they said they are having with President Muhammadu Buhari now which is causing trouble, how can you imagine someone who is a product of the Awolowo philosophy having an alliance with somebody like Buhari?
“And I described them at that time as a collection of incompatibles. So Afenifere has no business with them at all. It is Osoba and others who had a parley with Obasanjo. I don’t know anything about it. It is their business.
“It was not a free and fair election. Obasanjo tricked them and sent them out of office but because they were not loyal to the leadership of Afenifere, they didn’t follow in our footsteps. They were following their own. But Tinubu was smart. He saw ahead but Osoba thought that he could get on with Obasanjo. It is a question I don’t want to answer. I don’t want to be involved in their own controversy now because I have my own views about the whole thing. they sold themselves to him (Obasanjo) and they reaped the result of their disloyalty to the party. That is my conclusion.”
Entertainment9 months ago
Headline11 months ago
Entertainment9 months ago
Headline4 weeks ago
Entertainment4 months ago
