The Ogun State All Progressives Congress has described the Peoples Democratic Party as a “nest of cultists” that needs to be further investigated by the security agencies in order to make more arrests and stem the tide of cultism in the state.
The Publicity Secretary of the ruling party, Hon Tunde Oladunjoye, said this in a statement made available to journalists on Sunday at Abeokuta, the state capital.
The party while commending the last week Thursday arrest of the PDP lawmaker representing Sagamu Constituency I at the State House of Assembly, Damilare Bello, fondly called Dre and five others, urged the security agencies not to leave any stone unturned in its investigation of the recent cult violence in Sagamu and other parts of the state.
APC said it was no longer a rumour that “notable members of the PDP in the state are allegedly involved in cultism as high-ranking members in their various local government areas”
The ruling party urged the security agencies to track and monitor the type of meetings “the so-called honourable members are holding, hosting and presiding over in their constituencies”.
The statement partly read, “Suddenly, the PDP that urged the security authorities to do their jobs, is now blackmailing the same authorities when its House of Assembly member and other top cultists have been arrested in the residence of the assemblyman. It is most shameless that the PDP even pronounced that “no weapon was found on the cultists”, against the discovery by the Department of State Security that effected the arrest of the senior cultists.
“Our position that there has always been a strong hand behind the Sagamu violence, especially the burning of more than ten banks purportedly over naira-swap protest, has been vindicated. No amount of lies and blackmail should deter law enforcement agencies from bringing the culprits to book.
“Part of the strategy of these top members/sponsors of the cults, especially in Sagamu, has been to travel out of the country when the planned clashes are being effected, and later return to claim alibi. It is a pattern that could easily be verified by the investigators.
“The wizard cried yesterday and the child died today, it is not too difficult to trace the killer of the child. In Ogun State, for the cultists and their sponsors, the chicken has come home to roost. The PDP cult masquerades are being unveiled and the security agents should go the full hog.”
However, the opposition party in reaction to its Publicity Secretary, Asiwaju Akinloye Bankole, described the Ogun APC as a “hub of criminals and cultists”.
The party maintained that the state which is noted for excellence had unfortunately under Governor Dapo Abiodun been turned into “the harbour of cultists and criminals”.
The party said, “A quick reminder is also how the government and APC used thugs and cultists to beat members of the opposition on the first day of the Ogun Governorship Tribunal including a former PDP Governorship aspirant, Otunba Segun Sowunmi, all these are clear indications of who is harboring cultists in the state.
“Its allegations of APC and government of Abiodun being the hub of criminals is further supported with the arrest and jailing of his former aide, Abidemi Rufai in faraway USA for stealing more than $350,000 as part of the Washington State’s $650,000 unemployment fund.”
PDP equally accused the APC of using “hoodlums who were cultists to allegedly disrupt the March 18 governorship elections in the state”, saying the PDP was in possession of a police report on the case.
The party equally recalled that in September 2022, the EFCC filed an 11-count charge against the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Hon Olakunle Oluomo, bordering on conspiracy, forgery, misappropriation of funds, budget padding, and money laundering to the tunes of N2.5bn.
The statement urged members of the public not to be fooled by the antics of the APC saying that the PDP has many times called out many activities of the state government.
