The last may not have been heard about the 2019 governorship election in Ogun State and the legal battles that arose thereafter. This is as the former Secretary of the Labour Party, Olaposi Oginni, accused Governor Dapo Abiodun of being involved in bribery to escape being removed by the election petition tribunal, an accusation the governor has denied.
Africa Today News, New York recalls that the Labour Party had approached the tribunal to challenge its non-inclusion on the ballot papers used for the governorship election.
Oginni alleged that Gov Abiodun met with the Chairman of the Labour Party in Ogun, Abayomi Arabambi and gave him a sum of ₦5 million.
Oginni, during a live program on Splash FM, Abeokuta, said an aide of the governor had invited him and Arabambi for a meeting with Abiodun at his Oke-Mosan office in Abeokuta, saying he refused to meet the governor with Arabambi in attendance.
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The current Chairman of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) recalled how he was reportedly contacted by former Governor Olusegun Osoba, who he said persuaded him to ensure Gov Abiodun gets a soft landing at the tribunal.
His words: Gov Dapo Abiodun and I are not friends. The issue between us is that, after the governorship election in 2019, (I was still in Labour Party then), Arabambi wanted Dapo Abiodun to be sent away but Baba Osoba invited me over to his house in Lagos. He begged me to let Dapo Abiodun serve his term, assuring that he would perform better as governor.
‘If Arabambi and I had stood our grounds that Dapo Abiodun should go as at then, there would have been a rerun election. So, I never sat down with Dapo Abiodun, but he made Baba Osoba his ‘spokesperson’ then. Nobody will ever use Baba Osoba as his surety and people will doubt such a person. But Dapo Abiodun is an ingrate, the greatest ingrate you can ever meet at that.’
‘I’m not into politics for pecuniary gains. I don’t have an agreement with Gov Abiodun. All I want is good governance from him. Let them bring whatever evidence they have out to prove I demanded anything else. We demanded good governance but he failed in that ramification.’
‘When we finished the case, those who helped him in APC and we the opposition party, let Dapo Abiodun and his followers tell us the good thing he did for us, not to talk of good governance for the people. He disappointed himself, not us. His approach was so deceptive that we thought he was a good person who will do what he’s supposed to do. How do you want me to keep quiet when a government is not doing well and I’m in the opposition party.’
‘I didn’t collect any money with Arabambi. I never made any monetary agreement with anybody. Arabambi went on his own as a Labour Party member and I am on my own as a Labour Party member too. He never wanted Dapo Abiodun to do this governorship. He stated that Dapo Abiodun didn’t have certificate and all that. But I stood on the truth that this man has been elected as the governor, let’s protect that trophy for him. Let him serve his tenure so we can have good governance.’
‘On getting to Supreme Court, God heard our plea and he was declared winner. One day, Biyi, SA to the governor on political matters, called me that the governor wanted to see me and Arabambi at Oke-Mosan. I said ‘under my foot will such ever happen!’ I will not come for that meeting. Arabambi called my phones more than 50 times on that day, asking me to come over for the meeting but I said, ‘for what? You once said Dapo Abiodun won’t serve as the governor because he doesn’t have a certificate. He became the Governor now you want to go and enjoy it with him. I don’t deal with charlatans’.
‘I didn’t go for the meeting, but Arabambi went ahead and he was given Five million Naira. Dapo Abiodun, Biyi Adeleye and others at Oke-Mosan are listening presently.’
‘I was called for the meeting, but I called Baba Osoba that I will not be going because I don’t attend such a meeting. I won’t stand with Dapo Abiodun at his right hand and Arabambi at the left to take pictures. I don’t do such and I won’t do such. Have they not finished spending the ₦5million?’
‘The reason why I have been silent was because I had a meeting with Baba Osoba at Bourdillon. The meeting was held at Baba Osoba’s house, near Tinubu’s in Lagos. I met with all the leaders of APC in Ogun State. We came to an agreement. I fulfilled my own side of the agreement that Dapo Abiodun should govern the State. He refused to fulfill his own agreement, which is good governance. I’m not the only one he didn’t fulfill his agreement to. He is an ungrateful person. I will say it if he is here. He is an ungrateful person,’ Oginni fumed.
Ogun govt reacts to Oginni’s accusation
However, the Gov Abiodun government in Ogun State has reacted to Oginni’s claim that the governor gave money to the Labour Party Chairman.
The State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Waheed Odusile, said the governor had no such deal with the Labour Party leader, Arabambi.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK