Ondo 2024: Stop attacks on my supporters, billboards — Akinterinwa tells Police, DSS

By Akintunde Jacobs, Akure

Wale Akinterinwa, an aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in the forthcoming November 16, governorship election in Ondo state, has again raised alarm over incessant attacks on his supporters and campaign billboards ahead the April 20th APC primary election.

According to a statement made available to journalists on Monday in Akure by the spokesman of Wale Akinterinwa Campaign Organisation, Segun Ajiboye, he called on the Commissioner of Police and the Director of State Security Service in Ondo state to be proactive and put measures in place to forestall any further attacks on his people by some thugs, working for Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa.

The statement reads; “The Wale Akinterinwa Campaign Organisation wishes to draw the attention of the leaders of our great party, All Progressives Congress (APC), and all well-meaning citizens of Ondo state to the incessant attacks and wanton destruction of property and billboards of governorship aspirants by political thugs loyal to Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa.

“The thugs of O’datiwa, the armed wing of the Aiyedatiwa Campaign Organisation, again unleashed mayhem on hapless citizens in Ore, Odigbo local government area of the state. During the attack, the thugs destroyed a large billboard of Wale Akinterinwa. The latest attack is coming on the heels of the recent destruction of billboards and property belonging to other aspirants in Akure, the state capital, and other areas across the state.

“In that cowardly attack, the state’s signage and advertisement agency was quick to come to the defense of the governor when it claimed that the advertising agent in charge of the billboards failed to remit payments to the agency. We are still waiting for the excuse they will come out to justify their latest round of destruction that was carried out on members and campaign materials in Ore, headquarters of Odigbo local government.

“The actions of the governor and his thugs have continued to drag the name of our great party in the mud in the state, while other political parties in the state stand and mock the follies going on in the Ondo APC. Once Again, like in our earlier calls, we urge leaders of the APC in Ondo state and at the national level to call Governor Aiyedatiwa to order before he destroys the party in the state.

“It is regrettable that despite our calls to the police and the DSS to ensure the safety of supporters of other aspirants and their properties across the state, the one-sided attacks and destruction have continued. We are, therefore, using this latest opportunity to call on the Commissioner of Police and the Director of State Security Service in Ondo state to be proactive and put measures in place to forestall any further attack on the people by thugs working for Governor Aiyedatiwa.

“However, going forward, as good citizens of this wonderful state, we want to advise Governor Aiyedatiwa to use all the energies he dispenses trying to bring down other aspirants to provide verifiable answers to the alleged certificate forgery case dogging his footsteps. It is high time our dear governor stopped this ugly game of shame and stopped the desperate acts of trying to intimidate other aspirants.”

But the State Director of Information, Lucky Aiyedatiwa Campaign Organisation Foot Soldiers Independent Council (LACO-FSIC), Kayode Fasua, while reacting said, “there are at least six governorship aspirants from the Southern Senatorial District, apart from Wale Akinterinwa. How come Akinterinwa’s lackeys, either as directed or deliberately, see Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa as a muted punching bag? For the umpteenth time in their clueless attempts to disparage the irresistible popularity of the governor, they have been cooking up steaming-hot allegations that they are unable to substantiate.

“The fact of the matter remains that we require evidence to prove that their fathomed thugs who are better conjectured as gobbling gnomes, are from Aiyedatiwa. They are as unserious as their allegation. Any thug spotted destroying their billboard should be reported to the Police, rather than distract a hardworking governor.”