The Chief Press Secretary to Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, Taiwo Adisa, has accused the All Progressives Congress of plotting to lure the governor to the party to avoid a woeful performance in 2023 governorship election.
Adisa made this claim in a statement on Monday, stating that the reason the APC is plotting to lure Makinde is because they could not raise any candidate that can match the governor.
The CPS said the plot did not come as a surprise considering “the unprecedented achievements the governor has recorded in a very short time, especially despite the COVID-19 pandemic.”
He added that Makinde’s achievements “has thoroughly beaten their imagination such that they have concluded it is impossible to raise a candidate to contest against him in 2023.”
The statement read in part, “One is not surprised that some elements in the APC are busy debating the possibility of Governor Makinde’s defection to the party.
“The unprecedented achievements the governor has recorded in a very short time, especially despite the COVID-19 pandemic, has thoroughly beaten their imagination such that they have concluded it is impossible to raise a candidate to contest against him in 2023.
“As a close watcher of the GSM magic, so to say, one cannot be surprised that the APC in Oyo State is really envious of the great attainments of Governor Makinde.
“However, rather than claim that Makinde wants to defect to the APC, the truth the APC elements should tell the world is that their party is attempting to lure the performing governor in order to avert a woeful performance against him in 2023.
“Contrary to the claims of the APC members that the governor has been soft against criticisms by its members, Governor Makinde has not bothered to respond to their baseless criticisms in recent times but has chosen to remain focused on service delivery.
“We also completely reject the claims that his desire to join the APC informed the “soft approach” to the farmers/herders’ crisis.
“Rather, the governor has remained on the side of the law and has always insisted that criminals, whichever tribe they belong, are our enemies and they must be fished out without undue ethnic profiling.
“So, the best thing the APC could come up with right now is to imagine a Makinde as a standard-bearer so he could serve as a surreptitious redemption for the years of locust the party had inflicted on the people of Oyo State.”