Ondo: Security Agents Should Not Intimidate Citizens Over Party Preference, Says Atiku

Security agencies have no business intimidating or clamping down on citizens because they chose to be affiliated with a certain political party, Alh. Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President, has said.

Atiku stated this, Sunday night, in a series of tweets via his Twitter account, @atiku, while welcoming the Deputy Governor of Ondo State, Agboola Ajayi, who defected from the All Progressive Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) earlier in the day.

Ajayi had defected to the PDP shortly after he was barred by the state commissioner of police from leaving the Ondo State government house.

It was alleged the Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, asked the police commissioner to stop Ajayi from leaving the government house to prevent his planned defection to the PDP.

The deputy governor and some personal aides had gone to the Government House to move out personal items ahead of the planned defection of Ajayi to the Peoples Democratic Party in preparation of the October 10, 2020governorship election in the state.

It was gathered that the newly deployed Commissioner of Police, Bolaji Salami, allegedly acting on the governor’s instructions repeatedly barred the pilot vehicle of Ajayi from moving his personal belongings out of the compound. 

For over several hours, the deputy governor was seen in a video footage arguing with the security personnel blocking their exit from the Government House. 

Reacting, Atiku tweeted: “I welcome Ondo State Deputy Governor, Agboola Ajayi, to our great party @OfficialPDPNig. Our repositioned party’s umbrella is big and sturdy enough to accommodate democrats desirous of an indeed people’s oriented change.

“Meanwhile, security agents should not be encouraged to clampdown or intimidate citizens on account of their political party preferences.”