•Over Gov. MAKINDE's Re-Election Bid
As the 2023 general election draws near, the political atmosphere in Oyo State, like
every other part of the country, is charged. That of course is to be expected
at a period like this when stakeholders across various political parties are
trying hard to outshine one another in selling their candidates to the
electorates ahead of the coming elections.
Already,
different intrigues, cards, as well as tantrums have been introduced into the
game. One of such political antics, however, is the recent viral video of the
Chairman of the Disciplinary Committee of the Park Management System (PMS), Alhaji
Mukaila Lamidi also known as ‘Auxiliary’. In which he was apparently reacting
to the gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Senator
Teslim Folarin’s call for him to be called to order. As a result of what
Folarin described as incessant attacks on the members of his party by
Auxiliary and his PMS guys.
Folarin,
at a political rally recently, issued a strong warning to Auxiliary to desist
from attacking members of APC or be prepared to face the consequences. Stating
that he and others wouldn’t fold their hands and allow Auxiliary and his gang to turn the state into a place where insecurities reign supreme.
“Whatever
they call his name-Auxiliary or what? He should be prepared for the
consequences if he doesn’t stop attacking members of the APC. We will not fold
our arms while they continue to unleash terror on our members and people. He
should be warned,” Folarin stated. The whole issue has however taken a rather
interesting dimension when Auxiliary’s video surfaced on the internet, last
week. Auxiliary, in a one-minute video, had threatened to kill Folarin, the
three-term senator representing Oyo Central Senatorial District if he does not
behave himself.
The
PMS boss, who is believed to be mobilizing support for the re-election bid of
his benefactor, Governor Seyi Makinde, accused the APC leader of recruiting
militants against him ahead of the 2023 election in the state. Since the
emergence of the said video, it has been a war of words, accusations and counter-accusations between the two leading political parties in the state, the PDP and
APC.
In
fact, APC has not only raised an alarm but has also charged the appropriate
security agencies to probe Auxiliary’s alleged death threats on its guber
candidate, Senator Teslim Folarin.
Why
the threats shouldn’t be taken for granted, according to APC, in a press
release, was because of Auxiliary’s violent tendencies. Citing as an example his
involvement in the clash at the Iwo Road Interchange that led to the killing of
a medical student of the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) and other travellers;
the bloody attack on innocent telephone sellers at Iwo Road that claimed the
life of one of the phone sellers in the area, and the recent attack on
residents of Ali-Iwo area. The statement signed by Oyo State Secretary of APC,
Alhaji Tajudeen Olanite reads: “We wish to express our concern about the safety
of Senator Teslim Folarin.
“The
infamous clash at the Iwo Road Interchange that led to the killing of a medical
student of the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) and countless travellers; the
bloody attack on innocent telephone sellers at Iwo Road that claimed the life
of one of the phone sellers in the area, and the recent attack on residents of
Ali-Iwo area that killed two people are still fresh in our memories.
“We
have no choice but to call on the state security agencies, particularly the Oyo
State Command of the Nigeria Police Force and the Department of State Services
(DSS) to expedite the investigation on Alhaji Mukaila Lamidi’s threat to Senator
Teslim Folarin’s life before it is too late. “We are also asking the police and
the DSS to beef up security around the APC governorship candidate.
“There
is no doubt that Alhaji Mukaila Lamidi views our party and its governorship
candidate as the stumbling block to his principal, Engineer Seyi Makinde’s
second term bid. “The campaign for the 2023 general election will begin soon,
and we don’t want our party’s governorship candidate to be a victim of attack.
So, the security agencies should investigate this blatant threat to life.
“Also,
we are intimating the general public to hold Alhaji Mukaila Lamidi Auxiliary
and his principal, Governor Seyi Makinde, accountable if anything untoward
should happen to our party’s governorship candidate or any of his close allies
before, during or after the general election.” Meanwhile, in its own reaction,
PDP had accused APC of raising a false alarm. Saying that Folarin was the one
making attempts to attack Auxiliary.
The
PDP Publicity Secretary in Oyo State, Akeem Olatunji, in a statement, said that
the allegation was a fabricated story to gain public sympathy.
He
said: “It is a complete lie. They just want to be in the news. They have lost
relevance.
“It
is a cooked-up story. Folarin is not in the race. The platform has been
destroyed. They are the ones making attempts on ‘Axulilary’ just to take him
out of circulation. Auxiliary is raising the alarm so that he would not be
killed. The Federal Government, police and DSS should call Folarin to order.
“Auxiliary
is only focusing on how to generate revenue for Oyo State through PMS.”
For
those who are familiar with the political happenings in Oyo State, this is not
the first time the Auxiliary will be taken on the perceived political enemies of
Governor Seyi Makinde. A former member of PDP in the state and erstwhile
political ally of the governor, Bisi Olopoeniyan and others who are no longer
with Seyi Makinde had, at one time or the other, been taken to the cleaners by
Auxiliary.
As
a matter of fact, he did a similar video to the current one at the South-West
PDP Congress in Osogbo in 2021, during the faceoff between Governor Seyi
Makinde and the former governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose. Alhaji Mukaila
Lamidi aka Auxiliary was a factional Chairman of the Oyo State chapter of the
National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) before he got his new
appointment as the Chairman of Oyo PMS.
-Dare
Adeniran
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