We‬ Are Not of Oyo APC Rally, Say CPC, ANPP, a Faction of ACN. The Rally, Exercise in Futility – Sen. Lanlehin

As the Oyo State APC held a rally at Mapo, Ibadan, on Sunday, the defunct CPC and ANPP which were part of the merger that transformed into APC dissociated themselves from the exercise.

 This was contained in a joint statement by the state chairman of CPC, Alhaji Abideen Oladimeji and his ANPP counterpart, Alhaji Razaq Folorunso.

“We need to let the public be aware that the state chairman of defunct CPC, Alhaji Abideen Oladimeji and that of ANPP, Alhaji Razaq Folorunso; their respective state secretaries and the entire members of their defunct parties were not at the Mapo APC rally organised by a faction of ACN,” the politicians said in the statement.

According to the parties, the rally was “without the input of CPC, ANPP and other factions of defunct ACN,” saying “we reiterate and stand by the directive of the APC Interim National EXCO that no state chapter should hold rally.

“We are law-abiding and not lawless people that will flaunt the resolutions and directive of our national headquarters. The above has resulted in the turnout and hurriedness of the programme compared with if all stakeholders had participated,” the chairmen said.

Meanwhile, the political rally has been described as a comedy show which could not have achieved any results as against the expectations of its sponsors. In further demonstration of his dissociation with the Ajimobi group in Oyo APC, the Senator representing Oyo South senatorial district in the Upper Legislative Chamber in Abuja, who is also a national stalwart of the new party, Senator Olufemi Lanlehin, condemned the Sunday rally and described it as an exercise in futility.

Senator Lanlehin, through a statement issued by his media aide, Olawale Sadare, emphasised his call on Ajimobi to “retrace his steps and respect other stakeholders in the progressive movement particularly those within the folds of the merged political parties across the state.

“An average politically conscious individual knows that our stand is not about who gets what ticket on the platform of APC in 2015, but the serious need to start afresh on a sound footing. And the best way to do this is for the governor to play a rallying point and allow all members to have a say.

“Judging by the outcome of the so-called political rally, held yesterday, which they hurriedly packaged and executed, one can see that it was a one-man show. Politics is about the people and that was why those who matter in the affairs of our great party, APC, from within and outside the state, boycotted it.

“When a toddler decides to play with sand in the open, a responsible adult must ensure that such child does not go too far to the extent of putting sand particles in his eyes or mouth if he could not be stopped from embarking on such a play in the first instance. That is exactly what we are doing and we pray they take heed,” Lanlehin said.