The governor Ademola Adeleke-led Osun State government and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Wednesday, criticised the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its National Secretary, Senator Ajibola Basiru, over their call on President Bola Tinubu to extend emergency rule imposition to Osun.
Kolapo Alimi, the Osun State Commissioner for Information and Civic Engagement, condemned the request for emergency rule in the state as heartless, self-centred, and illegal.
Similarly, Oladele Bamiji, the spokesman for the Osun State PDP, accused Basiru and the APC of seeking to seize power through the backdoor after being rejected by the people in the elections.
On Tuesday, President Bola Tinubu imposed a state of emergency in River State, suspending the governor, Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, Ngozi Odu, and all members of the state House of Assembly for six months.
The president also appointed Vice Admiral Ibok-ete Ibas, a retired naval chief, as the state’s administrator.
The president based his decision on a protracted political crisis between the governor and MPs, which saw extremists vandalise oil sites while lawmakers campaigned for the governor’s departure from office.
Basiru posted on X.com after the president declared an emergency rule: “Rivers State of Emergency: APC praises Tinubu, demands extension to Osun.”
In Osun State, the ruling PDP and the opposition APC are battling for control of the local government.
At the height of the crisis, around three weeks ago, at least six people were slain, and local government secretariats were rendered inoperable when personnel fled for their own safety for fear of being caught up in political violence.
The Osun APC supported Basiru and encouraged President Tinubu to extend emergency rule to Osun State.
According to Osun APC spokesperson Kola Olabisi, the PDP and Governor Ademola Adeleke violated the constitution by allegedly attempting to remove the Osun Chief Judge, killing APC members during the 2022 general elections, and disregarding court orders.
Olabisi said, “The call by the APC National Secretary is in order. There is no constitutional breach that Fubara committed that Adeleke has not done the worst version of it here.
“He made an attempt to remove the Chief Judge; many APC members were killed during the 2022 general elections across the state; he disregarded valid court orders regarding the reinstated LG chairmen in the state.
“Adeleke has committed many constitutional breaches in this state to warrant the imposition of emergency rule, and we urge President Bola Tinubu to pay attention to what is happening in Osun and stop the abuse of office by our governor. Senator Basiru is right, and we stand by him.”
However, in a strongly worded statement issued on Wednesday, the Osun State administration rejected Basiru and the APC’s proposal for a state of emergency in the state, calling it “callous, self-centred, and unlawful.”
Kolapo Alimi, the state’s Commissioner for Information and Civic Engagement, claimed that the present political developments in Rivers and Osun differed significantly when compared.
Alimi encouraged Basiru and the APC not to jeopardise the current state of peace and tranquillity in Osun in order to seize power through the backdoor.
“I have read what the overambitious and loudmouthed National Secretary of the APC, Senator Ajibola Basiru, said concerning the need for the declaration of a state of emergency to be extended by President Bola Tinubu as done in Rivers State last night to Osun State.
“While the call, no doubt, stems from a demented mind, it will be recalled that the same Basiru had in the not-too-recent past made a similar call when I engaged him on a national television station on the Yes-No local government chairmen in Osun State.
“It must, however, be emphasised that not only Basiru alone holds this senseless and obnoxious impression but the entire APC cohorts and their members and followers in Osun State, who, on a daily basis, are scheming for one mischievous device or the other in order to come through the backdoor to take the reins of governance in Osun State; but by the grace of God and with the support of the people of Osun State for the administration of Ademola Adeleke, all the evil machinations against the people-orientated government of Ademola Adeleke will not see the light of day.”
The commissioner urged the president to see through the theatrics of rejected and dissatisfied politicians’ by rejecting the proposal for a state of emergency in Osun.
“For any political observers in Osun State, it’s very clear that the Osun APC lacks the popularity, political acceptance and sagacity to face and defeat Ademola Adeleke in any election, hence their resort to all forms of antics to get to power through the backdoor. One of such antics was their failed attempt to cause mayhem in the state through enforcement of a non-existent Court of Appeal judgement to reinstate their Yes-No chairmen and councillors. With that enforcement of the non-existent judgement, they almost put Osun into a state of anarchy.
“However, Governor Adeleke, being a man of peace and of the people, saw this coming; hence, the directive given to the duly elected local government chairmen in the state not to go to their various LG secretariats after the swearing-in ceremony. Had Governor Adeleke not been proactive and guided by great wisdom, only God would have known what the APC could have turned the state into while carrying out their awada. Keri Keri (comedy show) in the various LG secretariats of our dear state.”
Alimi accused the APC of attempting to make Osun ungoverned, claiming that three cases involving the government and the Osun APC over control of local government areas in the state are currently pending in court.
“With all these, couldn’t Basiru read in between the lines that the matters at hand are all legal issues, which should also be resolved through the court as opposed to calling for the declaration of the state of emergency?”
Similarly, dismissing the request for a state of emergency in Osun, the Osun PDP spokesman, Bamiji, branded Basiru’s call as foolish, claiming that the situation in Rivers was distinct from that in Osun.
Bamiji said, “We take exception to the outrageous call by the former senator and the national secretary of the All Progressives Congress calling for the imposition of a state of emergency on Osun State.
“I think that statement was not only reckless but also dangerous and demeaning of Mr Basiru’s standing, at least as a former senator and the national scribe of the APC.”
