Sunday Abire, Special Assistant on New Media to the Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo State as alleged a governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress APC of having plans to contest in another political party if he fails to get the party’s ticket after next month primary.
Abire stated this while reacting to a statement credited to Oke when he visited the leadership of APC in the state on Monday to declare his intention of contesting to be the next governor of Ondo state.
Oke was quoted to have said that the state has no elected governor but a governor who emerged as a result of the death of former governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu.
But reacting in a statement on Tuesday, Abire said, “Chief Olusola Alexander Oke is a very senior lawyer who should know the law and protect it everywhere he goes. He is a member of the inner Bar who has risen painstakingly through the ranks in the legal profession. Without prejudice to his personality, he is a great lawyer with both physical and intellectual skills capable of whitewashing any unprepared counsel in the courtroom.
“But character is like smoke. You cannot conceal it forever. It oozes at the least unexpected time and the world would be discerning enough to judge. Chief Oke is aspiring to be Governor of Ondo State under the platform of the APC. This is not his first time. He has sought to be Governor under different political parties and almost at every election year in Ondo state. Genuine or not, it is his life long ambition. Nobody should begrudge him. We all have ambitions too, whether ordinate or inordinate.
“Unfortunately, Chief Oke took his desperation too far by attacking the office he intends to occupy. He became the proverbial hen that defecates inside the pot that would later house it for a meal. How on earth will a Senior Advocate of Nigeria show so much disdain for the law he swore to protect at all times? How could Chief Oke denigrate the office of the Governor of Ondo State? His declaration that there is no Governor in Ondo state is mind-blowing. He even confidently said there is no ELECTED Governor since Aketi had died. Which part of law did the SAN study? We can begin to ask questions now.
“The late Governor Akeredolu who Chief Oke referred to as his leader and Governor ran under an inseparable ticket with Governor Aiyedatiwa. In law, they are one and the same. If Chief Oke voted for Aketi as his Governor, he couldn’t have divorced himself from the making of Governor Aiyedatiwa as the then Deputy Governor. Simple logic suggests that our SAN voted for two in one to hold separate lawful offices as the constitution demands. That’s not nebulous for a lawyer of many years at the Bar.
“We must be careful of utterances that undermine the position of the Governor of Ondo State. If we seek to serve the people altruistically, we must be circumspect, civil and logical.
“The signs are before us already. Chief Oke has shown how unfit he is to lead a people in need of true leadership that bothers on compassion, civility, inclusion and peaceful coexistence. Charging the state chairman to stoke unnecessary discord against the Governor and leader of the party is wicked, unpatriotic and unbelievably divisive.
“We understand that Chief Oke is willing to diminish the fortune of the APC in Ondo state by causing crisis where there should be none. We know that he will run under another party as he has always done. We charge those who have no other party to go to be wary of his antics. We can all seek to get whatever we want under this great platform that we have jointly built. There is no need to fight the Governor or undermine the seat of the Governor of Ondo State because of ambition.
“The chairman of the APC, Engr. Ade Adetimehin has repeatedly maintained that he has no rift with Governor Aiyedatiwa who is the leader of the party in Ondo state. For the records, it should serve as a current affairs update to Chief Olusola Alexander Oke that an ELECTED Governor who is known to the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria exists in Ondo state and his name is Governor Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa, the 7th Civilian Governor of Ondo State.”
