The Peoples Democratic Party in Oyo State has described comments by the All Progressives Congress in the state against Governor Seyi Makinde as indecent and unwarranted.
The APC in a statement by its Publicity Secretary, AbdulAzeez Olatunde, on Sunday said Governor Makinde should apologize to the people of Oyo State for bringing the name of the state into disrepute.
For allegedly meddling with the appointment of Chief Returning Officer for the election in Ondo State, the statement read, “The English idiom that says he who lives in a glass house should not throw stone has reflected in the manners of bashing and mudslinging that his senseless comment has attracted to the people of Oyo State.”
Meanwhile, the PDP in a statement signed by its state Publicity Secretary, Akeem Olatunji, on Monday, said the APC in Oyo State had unbridled penchant for public attention.
The statement expressed reservations on APC’s failure to protect the sanctity of the office of the first citizen of the state warning that the governor’s simplicity and benevolence should not be mistaken for weakness.
It reads, “Our attention has been drawn to a statement by the Oyo State chapter of the APC over the weekend where the opposition party used some provocative, extremely disrespectful, and uncharitable words for the person of the Executive Governor of the state, Seyi Makinde, with the sole aim of maligning and bringing his name to disrepute.
“The Oyo APC through its Publicity Secretary, AbdulAzeez Olatunde, threw caution to the wind in the name of politics by calling the governor ‘senseless,’ wouldn’t it have been polite and respectful in the spirit of playing opposition to apply decorum in their choices of words especially when addressing the governor?
“We are not unaware of their source of unrestrained effrontery and guts being the party in control at the center to disrespect, disparage, malign, and bring the hard earned reputation of Governor Makinde to disrepute in the eyes of the members of the public.
“The Ondo State election where Governor Makinde had gone to perform his duties as the Chairman of PDP Campaign Committee alongside his other counterparts to rally support for the PDP candidate also had no fewer than 15 APC governors present to garner support for their candidate.
“For the benefit of doubt, the APC governors present include Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State; Hope Uzodinma of Imo State; his Katsina State counterpart, Aminu Masari; Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State; Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai; his Kebbi State counterpart, Atiku Bagudu; and Osun State Governor, Gboyega Oyetola.
“Others present were Governor Sani Bello of Niger State; Borno State governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum; Yobe State Governor, Mai Mala Buni; Abdulrazaq Abdulrahman of Kwara State; Badaru Abubakar of Jigawa State; Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State; Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Gombe State Governor, Muhammad Yahaya; and Simon Lalong of Plateau State.
“It is also a public knowledge that even while the governor was in Ondo performing his legitimate party duty, good governance in the state has continued uninterruptedly.
“We are seriously baffled by the Oyo State APC’s unbridled penchant for public attention. By saying that Makinde won his 2019 governorship election fraudulently, APC has just shown its lowest level of disrespect for not only the Supreme Court of Nigeria for upholding Makinde’s election victory, but also disrespecting both the election Tribunal and Appeal court for validating peoples choice.”
