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Build ups to the August 9, 2014 governorship poll in Osun State took a new turn on Tuesday, when the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state alleged that students of Osun State University (UNIOSUN), Ejigbo campus, were selling their voter cards to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) agents for N10,000 each.
Describing the development “as a shame and tragedy if it actually happened,” the APC lamented that “it speaks volumes on the quality of mind of those involved.”
In a press statement signed by the party’s director of publicity, research and strategy in Osun State, Kunle Oyatomi, the APC implored “other students in that campus, or any other campus of the university, not to sell their birthright to criminals who did next to nothing to help them pay their education bills but actually increased school fees when they were in government.”
The statement reads in part, “Osun State University students should be grateful to God in the first place that he brought Mr Rauf Aregbesola not only to reduce their school fees from an average of N200,000 to N75,000 but also to increase their bursary from N3,000 to N10,000 for others, and from N10,000 to N100,000 for law and medical students.”
Reacting to the development, the governorship candidate of the PDP, Senator Iyiola Omisore, who spoke through his director of media and strategy, Prince Diran Odeyemi, said “APC as a party is just accusing the PDP of the exact plot or plan they are intending or already carrying out.”
If they have such information, they should report quickly to the police or the authorities of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for necessary action,” he remarked, adding that the allegation was unfounded and laughable.
However, the APC contended that “anybody who sells his voter card commits a crime against himself because the PDP has vowed to reverse everything Aregbesola has done in the state which means the university fees will revert to N200,000 if not more, that is totally beyond the capacity of parents in Osun to pay, while bursary will come down to N3,000 again.”
It further called the authorities of UNIOSUN to intervene and make the students understand that by selling their voter cards, they were committing “academic suicide.”
Osun deputy gov’s brother, others dump APC for PDP
As political parties strategise ahead of theAugust 9, governorship poll in Osun State, a senior brother to the incumbent deputy governor, Mrs Titi Laoye-Tomori, Mr Sunday Laoye, will today lead thousands of the All Progressives Congress (APC) members in the state into the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Nigerian Tribune, authoritatively gathered.
Barring any hitch, Laoye, popularly known as “T Mack”, from Olorunda Local Government Area of the state, had resolved to decamp from his sister’s party, “citing undue marginalisation and poverty ravaging the masses of the state as reasons for his action.”
Credible source told the Nigerian Tribune that the development, which may sway some supporters of the APC to the opposition and deplete expected votes for the progressives, was already creating some upsets in both Olorunda and Osogbo local governments, where Sunday Laoye, is believed to wield political influence.
According to the source, “Laoye is personally worried and concerned about the downturn in the socio-economic fortunes of Osun State in the last three years and the deceit, wrapped with propagandist approach of the APC government, which is the tool being used to stagnate growth of the state.”
However, dependable source close to Osun PDP, on Tuesday, confided in us, that the deputy governor’s brother and his followers from the APC, will be officially received at the secretariat of the party, situated along Gbongan-Ibadan expressway, in Osogbo.
Commenting on the development, the director of media and strategy to Senator Iyiola Omisore, the PDP flagbearer in the state, Prince Diran Odeyemi, said “it is a welcome development, because the more the APC abuse us, the higher the acceptability and rising profile of our God -ordained candidate, who would liberate Osun, come August 9, 2014”.
While reacting to the planned defection of Laoye and others to the PDP, the APC’s director of Publicity, Research and Strategy, Mr Kunle Oyatomi, asserted that “it is not new in Nigerian political scene. You can have family divided as to which political party they will support.”
“In the East, we once had SG Ikoku in the Action Group and his father, Alvan in the NCNC. They went into election and the son defeated the father. They later had dinner together to celebrate. The Shita-Bey family in Lagos, were split between Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) and National Party of Nigeria (NPN). The same with the Dosunmu family. If the deputy governor’s brother now wants to be identified with PDP, there is nothing wrong with that. We can only wish him luck,” he submitted.
