…Says no peace without restitution
Minister of Communication, Adebayo Shittu, has declared that he will never campaign or support his party’s governorship candidate in Oyo state, declaring that he (Shittu) will amount to a bastard if he do that.
Shittu, who sought to contest at the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary in Oyo state but was disqualified by the leadership of the party said it won’t make sense for him to “be defrauded out of a primary process and still simply behave like a slave.”
Recall that apart from the Minister, two serving governors of Imo and Ogun states, who had their preferred governorship candidates lost oyt at the primary had declared their support for them on the platform of other parties.
While Rochas Okorocha will be supporting his son in-law, Uche Nwosu on the platform of Action Alliance (AA) his counterpart in Ogun state Ibikunle Amosun, will be supporting his preferred governorship candidate on the platform of APM.
When asked during a press briefing on Wednesday in Abuja, on whether the Minister will support Governor Abiola Ajimobi’s preferred governorship candidate and the APC flag bearer, Adebayo said: “I think it doesn’t arise. I will be a bastard to be defrauded out of a primary process and to simply behave like a slave! It won’t make sense. I have been a foundation member of APC and I have twice aspired to be governor. In 2011, I aspired and I was defeated by the incumbent.
“In 2015, I aspired I was defrauded from the primary at that time and I challenged that process which produced Governor Ajimobi who won for a second term. I went to court, we were still in court when my appointment was announced. That made me to abandon that case and the governor, instead of him to thank his God that he was relieved of the case started a campaign against my confirmation by the Senate.
“He (Ajumobi) was going around, blackmailing me, urging senators not to confirm me. At the end of the day, common sense prevailed, I was confirmed and ever since he has continued to attack me. And what is the basis of the attack? He believes that , which is wrong anyway that he and his cohorts can not have a Buhari at the federal level and another Buhari in me at the state level. He told people close to him that if Shittu succeeds, he would be in jail. Why he think so, I still don’t know.”
On the ongoing reconciliation move by pyt in place by the leadership of APC, the Minister said it would have been restitution before reconciliation.
“No. There won’t be peace without restitution. So, restitution should come before the reconciliation.”
While denying a media reports in some quarters that he had closed down the Buhari Campaign Office he opened in Oyo state, the Minister explained that “We had a rented apartment, the house in question wasn’t my property. We rented it and we simply couldn’t afford to sustain the rent and the landlord was impatient with us and said we either pay or get out of the place and we took the most sensible decision by vacating that premises.
“We are in the process of looking for another building which would be used for General Buhari second term in office campaign, hopefully we would be able to get something cheaper than we had.
“So, it isn’t true that to say that I was no more campaigning. It was the handwork of mischief makers and I think the media, a section of it can’t be exonerated from fake news. Some put the story out without getting my own side of the story! That means the story was self serving and politically motivated, it was a hack publication.”
