President Bola Tinubu has summoned the Governor of Ondo State, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, to an emergency meeting following the violent disruptions that marred the All Progressives Congress (APC) ward congress in the state, which resulted in the deaths of two people and left several others critically injured.
According to a top government source, Tinubu directed the summons after receiving multiple security reports detailing the extent of the violence that broke out during Wednesday’s ward congress across the state.
The development comes barely 48 hours after hoodlums suspected to be members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) invaded the APC secretariat in Akure, the state capital, where they attacked and injured the state party chairman, Ade Adetimehin, and other chieftains during a stakeholders meeting.
Aiyedatiwa, who had scheduled activities to mark his first year in office, was said to have arrived in Abuja on Thursday evening in preparation for the Friday meeting with the President. As at press time, it remained unclear whether Aiyedatiwa had indeed held an audience with the President.
According to the source, President Tinubu is deeply concerned about the recurring incidents of political violence in the state and is determined to get to the root of the matter.
Also, a source close to the Government House in Akure disclosed that the summons was dispatched to the governor late on Thursday, following the series of security reports at the president’s disposal.
“We were already mobilising for our line-up activities when we suddenly got the information that Mr Governor will not be available the following day.
“We knew it would get to this because the attack on the stakeholders in the first place was uncalled for, and some of us can only advise that we cannot enforce our opinions, so we keep our calm. We knew this would come, and we don’t need such a drag back at all in the state,” the source said.
A former member of the State House of Assembly, Success Torukerijoh, as well as the immediate past chairman of Ile-oluji/Okeigbo/Odigbo local council, Dayo Akinsuroju, are currently in critical conditions in unnamed medical facilities in the state capital.
Among the victims is the brother of the APC chairman, Raphael Adetimehin, who was brutally attacked by suspected political thugs at his ward in Idanre.
The APC chairman, Adetimehin, who confirmed the incident, said his brother was attacked by the hoodlums in what appeared to be a case of mistaken identity.
“My brother was attacked; those who attacked him thought I was the one because we resemble each other very well. After shooting and stabbing him, they left him when they thought he was dead. I don’t know why we are taking politics to this extent,” Adetimehin stated.
In a statement issued by the Ondo State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Abayomi Jimoh, confirmed that two people were killed and three others injured in Idanre.
Meanwhile, Ondo State APC elders under the aegis of the PBAT Mandate Elders Forum have condemned Tuesday’s attack on the party secretariat, calling on President Tinubu to intervene decisively, emphasising the President’s lifelong commitment to democratic ideals.
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