The crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State deepened late Wednesday as the embattled Chairman of the party, Mr. Isaac Kekemeke and governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu engaged in verbal war.
Kekemeke accused the governor of deploying violence in order to take over the structure of the party.
But, the governor described Kekemeke’s accusation as “the plaintive cry of a man whose influence has waned as due recompense for non-perfomance “.
Kekemeke in a letter to the Southwest Zonal executive of the APC led by Chief Pius Akinyelure alleged that the governor was deploying state machineries in order to unconstitutionaly take over the State Executive Committee of the party.
But Governor Akeredolu who spoke through his Senior Special Assistant on Special duties and strategies, Dr. Doyin Odebowale said members of the state execution committee took a constitutional step in removing the chairman.
He noted that it was verifiable that majority of the Executive members attended the meeting where a vote of no confidence was passed on the embattled Chairman.
There had been dispute among the State Executive Committee of APC over the purported suspension of the Chairman over alleged gross abuse of office, anti-party activities and financial impropriety.
In his letter titled “Complaint of Deployment of Violent and Unconstitutional Means of Taking Over the Ondo State APC Structure by Certain Elements”, Kekemeke said: “We wish to draw the attention of the Southwest Zonal Committee of the APC to the extremely dangerous; most unconscionable and unconstitutional actions of some members of the Ondo State.
“Against the clear spirit and intention of the Constitution of the All Progressives Congress 2014 as amended; a few members of the State Executive Committee purportedly met on 1st June; 2017 in a hotel at Akure; allegedly suspended the State Chairman of the party; and appointed the State deputy chairman as acting Chairman.”
Responding, Akeredolu who said he was not remotely involved in the matter, maintained that no process could have been more legal than the meeting which determined Kekemeke’s queer leadership.
In his own statement titled of Politics and Decorum, signed by Dr. Odebowale, Akeredolu said “A true democrat would have resigned as the chairman of any political party, let alone the ruling platform which dislodged powerful political groups without him.
“His continued stay, after the resounding rejection of his lack luster leadership, depicts him as deluded and withdrawn from reality. He cuts a pitiable picture with this latest assault on logic and decency”.
Meanwhile, a group, Coalition of Progressives Youths Congress (CPYC) has said the state will boil, if the right people were not appointed as commissioners in the Akeredolu’s administration.
The group said it was aware of some names already penciled down for Commissioner positions in the state.
Coordinator of the group, Olayemi Daudu said the party will be destabilized if wrong individuals were given appointments.
The group particularly asked governor Akeredolu to drop Otunba Dele Ologun’s name as commissioner from Ondo North.
The group reminded the governor that given appointments to wrong people will arm the opposition in the 2019 elections.
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