A socio-political group, Oyo Kajola Group (OKG), has advised the gubernatorial candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the last governorship election in Oyo State, Mr Adebayo Adelabu, to stop lying about his results in the March 9, 2019 election.
The group gave this advice while responding to claims by Adelabu that the 357,000 votes he garnered in the poll were more than what ushered in the last three successive governors.
Adelabu, DAILY POST recalls, had few days ago, described his defeat as a blessing in disguise. The APC candidate, while breaking silence, apologized to the people of the state for keeping quiet for more than 30 days.
Adelabu, in an emotional-laden statement he personally signed, a copy of which was made available to DAILY POST on Wednesday, explained how he struggled to understand the defeat he and his party suffered in the election.
The former Deputy Governor (Operations), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), said that, he remained the single strongest candidate in the 2019 Guber elections claimed to be displaced by the conspiracy or coalition of five other guber candidates.
But OKG, while reacting, said Adelabu lied and offended the sensibilities of educated and intelligent Oyo State residents with his distortion of facts.
The group warned Adelabu to perish the thought of “snatching a mandate freely given by the people of Oyo State to Mr Seyi Makinde of the PDP, as evident in his victory in 28 local governments of the state”.
OKG, in a statement signed by its media coordinator, Taiwo Ogunlade, pointed out how as recently as 2011, Governor Abiola Ajimobi on the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) polled 420,852 valid votes to emerge as the governor of the state, while Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala who was first runner-up polled 387,132 votes
The group said it was “wondering where Adelabu got his fact that 357,000 votes were larger than what past governors polled”.
“The mental laziness of Adelabu and his team, who could not present a simple fact in the public domain without prevarication, should alarm intelligent people.
“His statement is premised on lies, distortion and needless vainglory typical of a man who cannot learn from history or purge himself of arrogance and flippancy. It is saddening that a man being praised for his achievements as a banker could deliberately distort facts and resort to lying to dress his failed governorship ambition in borrowed garbs of success”.
“Adelabu’s statement was an attention-seeking effort to oil his desperate ambition to become governor at all cost. Oyo State people had already closed the chapter of elections and were looking forward to good governance under Makinde and all well-meaning people of the state should be thinking of how to join hands with the governor-elect to succeed in making life better for the people.”
