GBENRO ADESINA/IBADAN

Adebayo Shittu

Thousands of the people of Oke-Ogun Area of Oyo State today stormed Ibadan, the capital,  in support  of the state former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice,  Adebayo Shittu.

Shittu is one of the nominees of President Muhammadu Buhari for the position of minister.

But  the leadership of the All Progressives Congress in the state has been fuming over his choice.

But Shittu’s kinsmen warned the APC leadership today that they should do   nothing to tamper with the nomination.

The aggrieved indigenes of Oke-Ogun accused  the chieftains of APC and the government in power of ingratitude.

They   said that they were shocked  to read the position of the party in national dailies stressing, “the same Barister Shittu they are rejecting is the one that relocated from Ibadan to Oke-Ogun Area during the governorship election and ensured that Governor Abiola Ajimobi won his second term.

“One of them who identified himself as Segun Babatunde said:  “I had never met Shittu in my life until the time of the last governorship election. I saw him begging all the youth and everybody that we should vote for Ajimobi. He said that we should forget whatever he might have done in the past to us.  Because of him and the entire people of the state, we should vote for Ajimobi. I remember that he even vouched for him that when he gets there, he will change and make sure that our rights get to us. He has always been maginalising us. He rendered our man who is his deputy redundant and treated him like a boy. This time, we will not accept whatever rubbish they are bringing. If APC makes us to lose our chance, we will not take it lightly”, he said

The group lamented that the zone had been largely marginalised in the distribution of dividends of democracy in the state.

The aggrieved people complained that they had always been sidelined in previous political appointments even though they had worked tirelessly to put many politicians in power.

Two different groups, Oyo State Youth Assembly and Concerned Citizens of Oke-Ogun zone led by Alhaji Bashir Mayowa Alade and Mr. Ismail Adewoyin respectively disagreed with the leaders of APC , in particular the chairman of the party, Chief Akin Oke and the Secretary of the party, Mr. Mojeed Oloye ‎who rejected the nomination of Shittu.

 “If the change we desire and yearn for is to be achieved, the choice of Barrister Adebayo Shittu as nominated by President Muhammadu Buhari is not only sacrosanct but also desirable. Shittu ‎is not only a disciplined legal icon but also a politician with unblemished record”, Adewoyin said.

According to the groups, the nomination has laid to rest the political apprehension within the legacy parties that formed APC adding that other nominees from South West are of ACN extraction.

The people further stated that “if conscience is a virtue among principles that Akin Oke‎ led APC holds in high esteem, then the APC has no moral rights to write petition against an indigene of Oke-Ogun because if not for the bulk vote of Oke-Ogun people, APC would have lost Oyo State in the last election”.

In a telephone chat, Barrister Shittu appealed for a calm saying, “God is on the throne. Whatever that happens, I am loyal to my party, I am loyal to Nigeria and Nigerians and I know that God will do the best.”