APC and PDP accuse each other of planning to foment violence at the Tinubu presidential rally
Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke and the All Progressives Congress (APC) have traded words over an alleged plan to unleash violence at the presidential rally of the APC, scheduled to hold in Osogbo on Thursday.
Mr Adeleke, in a statement by his spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, said he had an intelligence report that the APC had imported thugs to the state for the rally.
He, therefore, called on residents of the state to shun the rally, warning that the state government will not tolerate any form of violence.
"The APC has imported their agents of death. There is likelihood they may engage in fights and brawls. It is important for our people to stay safe, away from the assemblage of evil hands," he said.
But, the acting chairperson of the APC in the state, Tajudeen Lawal, said it was the PDP that had hired hoodlums to disrupt the rally.
"We are privy to an intelligence that the Osun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in connivance with the embattled state Governor Ademola Adeleke have concluded a plan to disrupt the All Progressives Congress (APC) rally of our presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, coming up on Thursday, February 2, 2023, at the Osogbo Township Stadium, Osogbo, Osun State," he said.
"We also discovered, through our painstaking efforts, that the controversial Chief Security Officer (CSO) to the governor, one Chief Superintendent of Police Omoyele Adekunle (the leader of the Killer Squad) has been the one giving instructions and protection to the hooded political thugs" he added.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
Faulting the governor's claim, Mr Tajudeen said the hired thugs will be disguised in clothes and caps crested with the logo of APC.
"It was also learnt that the PDP is planning to kit the political hoodlums with branded APC uniforms and face caps with a view to giving the false identities of the PDP-sponsored political thugs," the party chairman noted.
"It was also gathered that Adeleke and the PDP have mapped out another plan to use political hoodlums to be waylaying our members and supporters who might be coming to Osogbo for the presidential rally from the various towns and villages on Thursday."
Tinubu's Rally
Meanwhile, the spokesperson for the Presidential Campaign Council of APC in the state, Remi Omowaiye, said that the campaign will be held at Freedom Park in Osogbo, the state capital from 11 a.m.
This is despite the state government saying it approved the Osogbo township stadium for the rally.
Mr Omowaiye urged party faithful in the state to attend the rally.
