Crisis rocking the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti state has taken a new twist as a faction of the party petitioned the police headquarters reporting former governor of the old Ondo state, Evangelist Bamidele Olumilua, who was eventually arrested yesterday.

The petition was purportedly written by one Barrister Paul Omotoso, who described himself as the secretary to the APC in the state.

Olumilua, was accused of conniving with another ex-governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi to organise subversive party meeting in his house and also nominate a potential minister for the state without consulting other executive members.

Bamidele Olumilua

In a swift, the APC, Action Group spokesman, Segun Dipe, in a signed statement frowned at the action which he described as intolerable abuse of phantom power.

He said that Olumilua is a former executive governor of the old Ondo state comprising the present Ondo and Ekiti states and also a member of the APC.

He also explained that the 75 year-old evangelist is lover of peace and has been making efforts to ensure that peace reigns in the party and the splinter groups come together to foster unity.

Dipe condemned the action of the factional group for reporting such an old man to the police which resulted to his arrest from his country home in Ikere Ekiti and was whisked away to the state police headquarters in Ado Ekiti.

The statement reads in part:”The offence allegedly committed by Evangelist Olumilua as enumerated in the petition written by Barrister Omotoso are that he organized a “subversive” party meeting in his house and nominated somebody and a minister without consulting with the party exco.

“Facts available has revealed that Barrister Omotosho was acting to the instruction of a former governor of the state.

It befuddles us that it is in this age and time, when the rule of law holds sway, that Barrister Omotosho and his co-travellers would embark on such desperation journey to nowhere, insulting the personality of Barrister Olumulia and, by extension, APC in Ekiti state.

“Assuming they did so out of ignorance or blind loyalty to somebody, the police should have been well-informed and more professional in their handling of the matter.

“It is not only annoying, but at the same time laughable. Evangelist Olumilua could not have been holding an illegal meeting in his own house against his own party.

“As an elder and leader in the party, we always run to him for advice on how to move the party forward and we have been begging him to come out of his political retirement to contribute his quota in returning our party to the path of sanity in the state.

“We also seize this opportunity to inform the public that a past governor of Ekiti State, has been embarking on arm-twisting and bullying tactics to create fears in the minds of party-faithfuls and ensure that he gets support to be recognized as the leader of the party in the state and at the national level.

“He has been using the police, SSS and thugs to terrorize those opposed to his dictatorship and ambition in recent times. We are hereby calling on the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the Director-General of the DSS to call anyone embarking on such ego trip at the expense of innocent citizens to order.”

Bamidele Isola Olumilua was the elected governor of Ondo state, Nigeria from January 1992 to November 1993 during the Nigerian third republic on the Social Democratic Party (SDP) platform.

He was forced to leave office when the military regime of general Sani Abacha took power.

Source:: naij.com