The Southwest All Progressives Congress (APC) has denied rumours that former governor of Oyo State, Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala, was bribed to support the party’s gubernatorial candidate in this Saturday’s election, Chief Adebayo Adelabu.
The APC in the Southwest, in a statement signed by its Zonal Secretary, Mr. Ayo Afolabi, maintained that persuading Alao-Akala to support Adelabu was not a Herculean task because of the fact that the former governor is a former member of the ruling party.
The statement read: “It has come to the notice of our party, the All Progressives Congress the unfounded rumour going round in the social media and in some blogs that the APC induced Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala with a huge amount of money for his support to sway him and his numerous supporters across Oyo State to the side of APC in the gubernatorial and states house of assembly elections scheduled for March 9, 2019.”
“This type of allegation can only exist in the minds and imagination of heavily corrupt PDP and their supporters. It is out of place for APC to give financial inducement to anyone with a view to gain or get the support of any one talk less of a person of Akala’s calibre who was until some six month ago a strong member of our party. It is true that the party approached former Gov. Akala and appealed to him to lend a helping hand for the success of APC in Oyo State as did PDP in the coming elections, this is normal in democracy.
“Akala made some demands which include among others: the completion of the teaching hospital in Ogbomoso which he wanted to be put to immediate use as soon as possible, the issue of LAUTECH which he wanted the governments of APC to address immediately and other sundry issues which are the basic ingredients for good governance. For anybody or group of people to accuse our party of offering money to former Governor Akala is share blackmail which can only exist in the imagination of the writer.
“We therefore enjoin the public to ignore such ranting of lazy minds whose only intention is to play politics with the integrity of our party and confuse the public.”
