By Uche Amunike
The Oyo State wing of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has warned Chief Niyi Akintola (SAN) over his unguarded comments and actions that go against the party dictates, including directing his followers to vote for the opposition party in the coming 2023 elections, threatening to expel him from the party if he doesn’t amend his ways.
This was made known through a press statement signed by the Ward 9 Chairman of the APC in Ido Local Government Area, Hon Ismail Babatunde, on behalf of the party, after Chief Niyi Akintola granted an interview considered controversial, to a radio station in Ibadan, where he de-marketed the APC through his outbursts during the interview.
The statement read thus: ‘Our attention has been drawn to the series of unguarded utterances made by Chief Niyi Akintola disregarding the Oyo State All Progressives Congress (APC) and its 2023 governorship candidate, Senator Teslim Folarin while featuring on a radio programme in Ibadan on Saturday.’
‘It is despicable that Chief Niyi Akintola, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria whose conduct should be guided by his enduring experience and professional practice went on air to unleash denigrating remarks on a party that breathed life to his dying political career because he lost the bid to secure the party’s 2023 gubernatorial ticket.’
‘While he should have realized that he flunks every contest because of his lack of political will and acceptance, he blames everyone but himself for his shortcomings. This is not Chief Akintola’s first instance of moral turpitude.’
‘He adopted the same strategy in 2019 by eventually lending his support to Engr. Seyi Makinde. It comes as no surprise that he is once again playing the spoiler game.’
‘Akintola has a long history of betrayal dating back to his short-lived reign as Deputy Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly, but one is tempted to believe that he has outgrown petulant emotions until he speaks and reinforces the fact that he is still bound by his natural instinct of peddling emotive assertions and telling barefaced lies. Decency has never been Akintola’s strong suit.’
‘He only gets animated during election season to source patronage for his usual transactional politics. His loyalty has always been up for auction and it tilts toward the highest bidder’.
‘His disregard for the party and President Muhammadu Buhari which has always been in the full glare of the public were also on display throughout the radio programme. Akintola deliberately feigned ignorance of the President’s directive that all party members must work assiduously for the emergence of all candidates fielded by the APC across the board because of the personal gains he seeks from his PDP dalliance’.
‘Akintola’s contemptuous outburst, urging his supporters to vote for opposition parties in the upcoming polls only lends confirmation to the slew of unholy deals he has entered with Gov. Seyi Makinde. Akintola’s APC membership is merely a smokescreen for double-dealing and divisive tendencies while he rolls over for crumbs at the table of the PDP. It is however shameful that someone of Akintola’s pedigree who prides himself on being a political gatekeeper lacks the courage of his convictions by constantly seeking public validation as an APC stalwart when he truly belongs to the PDP’, the statement said.
In conclusion, the press statement clearly stated that the party will not rush to initiate an expulsion process, even though his conduct, so far, is enough to expel him. They are rather strongly warning him to change his ways and maintain decorum, or else, they will recommend his expulsion from APC in order to avoid him causing irredeemable harm to the party and its candidates.
