Abayomi Adesanya, a chieftain of the All Progressives
Congress (APC) in Ondo State, said he rejected N100million offer by two
chieftains to work against the victory of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu during the
party’s governorship primary on September 3, 2016.
Adesanya, APC Publicity Secretary in Ondo State, told
newsmen in Lagos on Tuesday that: “You will recall that APC was riddled with
crisis in the buildup and after the governorship primary in Ondo State.
“Four days after the governorship primary, I had a brief
discussion with two men who claimed to have come from the ‘National’ at the
party secretariat in Akure.
“Their demand was simple: withdraw your support for
Akeredolu and call for the nullification of the September 3, 2016 governorship
primary of the party won by Akeredolu by issuing a press statement as the state
publicity secretary condemning the conduct of the election.
“They went as far as saying that Akeredolu was not in the
equation and there was no way he could fly the party’s flag since the owners of
the party were not comfortable with him as the governorship candidate,’’ he
said.
The APC spokesman said thereafter, he started receiving
strange telephone calls from some leaders outside and within Ondo State on the
need for the party in the state to mobilise the media to tag the election as a
“fraud’’ and to call for another primary.
“Thereafter, one of the men who met me at the party
secretariat, called around mid night, claiming he was directed by one of the
leaders (name witheld) based outside Ondo State, to get my bank account
details.
“Three days after, the same men arranged for a meeting at a
popular hotel in Akure where they offered me N50 million after about an hour
meeting.
“These men increased the offer to N70 million and then N100
million, claiming that I should issue press statements in support of the
position of the appeal panel constituted by the party to look into the conduct
of the primary.
“At that point, I knew trouble was brewing, I politely asked
for the adjournment of the meeting which they both agreed and drove off in a
wine Range Rover Sport,’’ he said.
Adesanya said that the men arranged for another meeting on
the third day after series of conversations via telephone at a different hotels
where they offered to pay him N50 million cash instantly and pay the balance
later.
He said that after some few minutes of the chat, one of them
who is usually addressed as Alhaji, said: “P.R.O, we are ready to give you N50
million cash right now and thereafter pay you the balance of N50 million either
by cash or into your bank account.”
“Just before I could say Jack-Robbinson, the second man
offered to show me something inside their car. On getting there, he unzipped
one out of about five or six bags in their car boot, surprisingly it was filled
with bundles of N1,000 notes.
“We went back to our seats to continue our discussion and I
politely informed them that it was too late for me to be in possession of such
huge sum of money and suggested we should meet at the same venue very early the
following day.
“After that meeting, I ran for cover. I refused to sleep at
home until Akeredolu’s name was finally submitted to INEC by the party.
“Severally, I was threatened by some notable leaders and
some unknown persons insisting that I should stop defending the primary or face
the consequences.
“Certainly, the three armed men that came to my house in
Akure in the early hours of November 9, 2016 may not be unconnected with this
issue,’’ he said.
Adesanya commended the national chairman of the party, John
Oyegun, for standing by the truth on the Ondo State Governorship Primary, “even
in the face of inducement, threat and intimidation by some party leaders.”
No comments:
Post a Comment