The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress on Sunday alleged that the state government had concluded arrangements to manipulate some retirees into staging protests at branches of the United Bank for Africa, in relation to the ongoing crises in local government areas.
The opposition party, in a statement by the Director of Media of Osun APC, Mr Kola Olabisi, on Sunday, claimed the government planned to use the pensioners to protest the payment of federal allocations to APC local government chairmen and councillors on Monday.
It subsequently appealed to the state Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Gothan, and other security agencies to intervene and prevent the protest.
The APC further alleged that some officials serving in the current administration, along with family members of Governor Ademola Adeleke, “hatched plans to sponsor protests by old pensioners and other hired elderly individuals to lay siege to UBA branches in order to gain unmerited sympathy from the public.”
The party also claimed the governor resorted to sponsoring protests “having lost outright in the courts and in the court of public opinion.”
In its statement, the APC stated, “We condemn in its entirety the alleged hiring of pensioners and non-pensioners by Governor Adeleke for planned protests at UBA branches, as the matter is already before the court.
“We view these alleged actions as a ploy to plunge the state into an avoidable crisis and disrupt public peace.”
Reacting swiftly, the governor’s spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, dismissed the allegation, saying the APC’s claim reflected the party’s fear of the consequences of its “anti-human actions,” particularly regarding local government issues.
Rasheed countered the allegations, insisting that Adeleke and his administration respect the rule of law.
He said, “The people know their rights and will defend them against impunity and lawlessness. Oppressed workers, pensioners, and citizens are aware of their rights to oppose injustice, but they will do so through democratic means, including delivering a decisive defeat to the APC in August.”
He added that the governor and his team are committed to due process and that the spurious alarm was part of the APC’s attempt to “seize Osun through the backdoor after realising the strong conviction of Osun people to reject it at the polls.”
Rasheed also urged the police and other security agencies to prevent “any plot by the APC to exploit genuine grievances of pensioners to create instability in the state.”
PUNCH Online reports that the Osun state chapter of the APC and the PDP-led state government have been at odds over the control of local government areas, with both parties pursuing legal action to either retain or displace the councils’ leadership.
