January 13, 2015 – Minister of Police Affairs, Alhaji Abdul Jelili Adesiyan, has advised the former governor of Osun State, Senator Isiaka Adeleke, to stop deceiving himself that the senatorial contest in Osun West is for him alone, adding that any attempt to underrate the Peoples Democratic Party’s senatorial candidate, Olasunkanmi Akinlabi, would spell a political doom for him during the next month general election.
The minister, in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Wale Akinola, said the former governor would suffer a great defeat during the next election which would end his political career in the state.
He therefore, debunked the rumour that PDP was begging Adeleke to return to the party, adding that it was uncharitable of a former governor of the state to be telling lies when the fact and figures of how he became the governor was there for the people to cross check.
“I read with great consternation a piece written by Adeleke’s aide where he claimed that Osun West senatorial election contest is Adeleke versus Adeleke. He also claimed that the unjust treatment meted on him by PDP made him to defect to APC. Although, I believe that his comments should not be dignified by any reaction from me or the party but such a piece reminds me of two things.
“One, how ungrateful Adeleke is because he wouldn’t have become the governor in Osun without my support and some of the great members of the defunct Social Democratic Party, SDP, particularly in Osun West senatorial district. Two, how a man who rode on PDP to become a senator of the federal republic of Nigeria, could be so naive that he had forgotten that the party that he is vilifying is the platform that brought him to political reckoning after he had gone into political oblivion.
“To put the record straight, we knew that Adeleke was APC mole in PDP and that is why the party put him where he belonged and when he knew that his game plan had been exposed he began to cook up a story that he was molested before he officially joined his people in APC. So, the question that PDP is begging him to come back does not arise at all. It will be unwise and lack of political vision for Adeleke to underrate our candidate, Senator Olasunkanmi, who was a senator before him in the zone and later became the Minister of Youth Development in Nigeria.
“In 2007, it took the former governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola, and the leadership of the party some weeks to persuade Senator Akinlabi to give his ticket to Adeleke to run for the Senate when it was obvious that if they went for primary, Adeleke would be defeated. But for Akinlabi’s respect for the leadership of the party and my persuasion, he allowed Adekeke to run while he was given ministerial appointment. Isn’t it absurd to think that such a political figure does not matter during the next election. I want to equally remind him that it is not only Ede’s votes that will make him Senator and he should wait till people decide before he can start arrogating power to himself.
“I want to emphasize that the next general election starting from presidential election to senatorial, House of Representatives to House of Assembly, will vindicate the PDP that August 9 governorship election in Osun State was rigged by the APC. Also, I want to say categorically that, Adeleke will suffer a great defeat during the next senatorial election in Osun west senatorial zone and that our candidate, Olasunkanmi Akinlabi will have a landslide victory regardless of Adeleke’s antics and propaganda.
