When on October 24, the Newsacross published the exclusive report on the plan by Governor Ibikunle Amosun to coerce members of Ogun State Chapter of the Association of Local Governments Of Nigeria (ALGON), to sign a petition of the governorship candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC), some supporters of Governor Amosun openly demanded the source of our news story.
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Ogun 2019: Save us from Amosun, Ogun Council Chairmen lament
Newsacross had reported and quoted quoted an insider as saying that “our exco were invited to meeting today by Hon. Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Chief Jide Ojuko, where we will be forced to sign prepared rejection letter against the winner of our governorship primaries and candidate of our party, of Prince Dapo Abiodun.”
The advertorial already signed by the 56 Local Government and LCDA Chairmen contained a wishy-washy rehash of porous arguments by Governor Amosun and his cohorts against Prince Dapo Abiodun and NWC.
President Muhammadu Buhari was called upon in the forced petition to reconsider his position of “non-interference” in the controversy. This again is a conformation of another exclusive report by Newsacross last Sunday, October 21, 2018 where we exclusively reported that the meeting of a delegation consisting of Alake of Egbaland, Olu of Ilaro, and Senator Iyabo Anisulowo, which met with the President at the behest of Governor Amosun, did not achieve the intended goal as the President turned down the request for his intervention, citing his well known principles of non-interference in party affairs.
Some of the Council Chairmen who spoke to Newsacross under the strictest condition of anonymity across the three senatorial districts, said they signed the petition for “signing sake” and to “avoid sanctions. The governor on October 1, at Mirror Hall publicly threatened to stop h salaries of Councilors supporting Dapo Abiodun and sack Council Chairmen who are not backing his puppet, Hon. Adekunle Akinlade, so we have to be very careful”.
“The petition is going to achieve nothing because the NWC of the APC, through the National Publicity Secretary, has clarified the issue concerning Ogun State that there is no going back on Dapo Abiodun”, remarked one of the Chairmen.
