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An Oil and Gas Expert and Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Mr. Razaq Obe, has exonerated the National Leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of committing offence in supporting aspirant of his choice for the Ondo State governorship election.
Obe, a petroleum engineer and indigene of Ilara-Mokin in Ifedore Local Government Area of Ondo State, maintained that Tinubu has always played the leadership role in Ondo APC since the consummation of the party, saying it would be hypocritical for anyone to accuse him of interloping in the party’s affairs just to gain cheap popularity.
An APC governorship aspirant, Dr Tunji Abayomi had last week overtly accused the party’s national leader of plotting to impose his preferred candidate on the party and that he had covertly enlisted the services of the Isaac Kekemeke-led State Working Committee to hatch the alleged imposition.
Speaking in Ado Ekiti yesterday on the crisis rocking the party, Obe warned the APC governorship aspirants against making uncomplimentary comments at this crucial time they are planning to reclaim the state from the Peoples Democratic Party, especially against the personality of Tinubu, whose experience and support will be needed to win the poll.
In spite of the raging controversies in the party, Obe expressed optimism that the party will win the election on the premise that the Ondo populace are already disillusioned with lack-lustre performance of PDP government. Obe appealed to the national and zonal leaders of the party to rein in their members and prevent looming crisis in the party that could rob it of victory despite the open and unfettered chances the party now enjoys.
He said the party was able to make remarkable outing in the 2015 general elections in Ondo State owing to palpable cohesion within its ranks, urging the political gladiators in the party to sustain the tempo for APC to bounce back to reckoning in the next election.
“I am one of those who are averse to the idea of one politician rising up and imposing a candidate, but Asiwaju Tinubu reserves the right to support whomever he wants to become the Ondo governorship flagbearer provided the constitution and guidelines on how a candidate should emerge are not circumvented.”
“I would have risen up to condemn the APC national leader if he had unilaterally imposed a candidate, but he had given assurances that in spite of the fact that he is backing a particular aspirant that the rights of other aspirants would not be trampled upon by disallowing free and fair primary election.”
“With all sense of modesty and rational thinking, I expected the aspirants to have commended Asiwaju Tinubu rather than pouring invectives on his personality in spite of the sacrifices he had made for APC to thrive in Nigeria and southwest in particular.”
“To me, it could have been a different thing if Asiwaju Tinubu has secretly been supporting a candidate of the PDP. The person they accused him of supporting is a member of the APC and it would be a flagrant and brazen infringement of his rights for people to call for his head for taking a stand in this matter”, he said.
Obe graduated with second Class Upper in Petroleum Engineering from University of Benin and proceeded to the prestigious University of Liverpool, United Kingdom, where he bagged his Masters degree in Projects Management (Oil and Gas).
