PDP counsels Aregbesola's protesting tribunal witnesses

By Lere Olayinka

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Southwest has counselled the protesting members of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) who were witnesses for Governor Rauf Aregbesola at the election petition tribunals to seek the face of God and pray for forgiveness for bearing false witness against the PDP before seeking favour from anyone, including Aregbesola.

The party said by neglecting them, Aregbesola was only telling the witnesses that; "I did not get the judgment because of the evidences you gave at the Tribunal. Rather, Tinubu got it for me throught Justice Salami and I am already showing gratitude to them."

The witnesses had besieged the State Secretariat in the early hours of yesterday, carrying placards with various inscriptions and chanting various songs to register their protest over the failure of Aregbesola to compensate them for testifying in his favour at the tribunal.

The protesters barricaded the entrance to the state secretariat, Abere, Osogbo carrying placards with inscriptions “Aregbesola is an ingrate to the witnesses”, “Aregbesola and Assembly members that went to the Tribunal dumped the witnesses” thereby paralyzing free-flow of traffic in and out of the State secretariat.

Reacting to the incident, the PDP said; "Instead of protesting, the witnesses should go to God in prayers and seek for forgiveness because they know that the evidences they were made to give at the tribunal were false.

"They should also let it register in their brains that Aregbesola does not owe them any appreciation because it was not the evidences that they gave that made him governor.

"He is already showing gratitude to Tinubu and Salami, who made it possible for the Appeal Court to nulify election results even in wards where Aregbesola said in his petition that election was duly held.

"Or is it not someone who do you a favour that you show gratitude to? Were the witnesses the once who made sure that votes in 10 out of the 30 Local Councils in Osun State were cancelled for Aregbesola to be governor?

"Therefore, our advise to the protesting witnesses is that they should confess to Nigerians the lies they were made to tell and ask for divine forgiveness."