Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo State on Tuesday denied allegations that he sponsored thugs to disrupt a stakeholders’ meeting at the state secretariat of the All Progressives Congress in Akure.
Some armed men had reportedly invaded the party secretariat during a pre-ward congress meeting presided over by the state chairman of the APC, Ade Adetimehin.
Several persons were injured during the incident, and thugs reportedly beat the state party chairman.
An eyewitness, Yetunde Adeyanju, had claimed the attackers were acting on behalf of the governor — an allegation Aiyedatiwa dismissed.
Aiyedatiwa, speaking at the meeting with the Ward Congress Committee at the party Secretariat in Akure on late Tuesday evening, explained that the meeting was initially scheduled for 10 am but was moved to 2 pm to enable him attend.
Aiyedatiwa said he was informed of security concerns around the secretariat and immediately contacted the Commissioner of Police to ensure adequate protection.
He said, “I got a call from one of them saying there were some problems around, or some miscreants around the party secretariat. I asked him to call the Commissioner of Police, and I also called the Commissioner of Police myself to ensure the place was protected because I was going to attend the meeting. I asked that security operatives be deployed to protect the place.
“Later, I got to know that some miscreants who had sympathy for one aspirant or the other, those who are contesting for one position or the other, were moving around and trying to create some kind of fracas among themselves, which led to some disturbance.
“The police assured that they would be able to protect everybody, and they were deployed. In fact, the secretariat was secured by the police before we arrived for the stakeholders’ meeting.”
The governor urged party members to remain calm and united ahead of the ward congress.
In her remarks, Chairman of the Ward Congress Committee in the state, Chief Margaret Araruenu, expressed confidence that the exercise would be peaceful, saying adequate arrangements had been made.
According to Punch, another eyewitness said on Tuesday that several party leaders, including Adetimehin, a commissioner on the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission, Mr Otito Atikase, and former Commissioner for Sports, Mr Saka Yusuf-Ogunleye, were beaten. Those injured were reportedly rushed to hospitals for treatment.
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