Ahead of the November 26 governorship election in Ondo State, the crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress (APC) in on Monday took a new dimension  as unknown ritualists sealed off the secretariat
of the party with fetish items suspected to be traditional sacrifice.

The fetish items were sighted  at the entrance of the APC secretariat at the popular Oyemekun Road in Akure, the state capital, during the early hours of the day.

The action was seen as an attempt to block the embattled chairman of the party, Hon. D. I Kekemeke, from gaining entrance into the party’s secretariat.

Kekemeke had during the weekend summoned some members of the party’s state Executive Committee (SEC) loyal to his camp to a “peace talk” meeting following a crisis due to his purported removal from his position.

The meeting was fixed for the party’s secretariat. A source said the suspected ritualists must have been employed by some aggrieved members of the party to scare Kekemeke.

The source said the aggrieved members might be those who want Mr. Kekemeke to resign following allegations of incompetence.

Reacting to the development, the Director of Media and Publicity of the party, Steve Otaloro, confirmed the strange find, saying that members of the party could have carried out the action due to the leadership crisis rocking the party in the State.

In a telephone conversation with WESTERN POST, Otaloro fingered the opposition as the palpable mastermind of the wicked act.

“Our members could not have done that by placing such fetish objects in the front gate of the party secretariat all in the name of a crisis, but I see the hand of the opposition in this case.

“Although there is a crisis in our party, the national leadership is already taking steps to resolve this crisis among the wary factions because the primary election is near.

“I can assure you that the party will go into the primary election peacefully and it will be handled by our national secretariat in a transparent way,” he said.

Meanwhile, the traditional monarch of the Akure Kingdom, Oba Ogunlade Aladetoyinbo, has condemned the fetish placed at the Ondo State APC secretariat as “sacrilege.”

He made the assertion through his Media Aide, Adeyeye Michael, in a press statement made available to journalists in Akure.

Oba Aladetoyinbo described those who carried out the action as “miscreants” who want to drag the name of the palace into the murky water of the politics in the state.

“The palace condemns the attitude of some miscreants who went and sealed the entrance of the party secretariat with the traditional palm fronds, which is the traditional means of sealing off premises in Akureland.

“We want to state that carrying out traditional sealing-off of premises remains the prerogative of the palace.”

The monarch said the sacrifice did not emanate from his palace, adding that his palace was ready to investigate the action.

“It is certain that those who carried out this condemnable act are not aware of the cultural and traditional implications of this action.

“The palace is apolitical and therefore should not be dragged into the internal wrangling of any party.

“The palace has sent its emissaries to carry out a thorough investigation of the matter and we
are confident that the culprits will be apprehended in no distant time,” the spokesman for the palace, said in the statement.