Forum of Ward Chairmen of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Akure South Local Government, Ondo State, has expressed concern over the alleged attack on the chairman of Ward 8, Oluwadare Olanrewaju, by the Senior Special Assistant to Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa on Community Engagement (Central), Oluwafemi Fadairo, popularly known as ‘Fada’.
Sources disclosed that a fracas ensued between the duo over the largesse dropped for the ward by Aiyedatiwa during his thank-you tour.
The Ward chairman, Olanrewaju, is now reportedly in a coma.
According to the ward chairmen in a statement issued at the weekend, Fadairo led some suspected thugs to assault the chairman over the sharing formula of the N1 million allocated to each ward during the visit.
Fadairo, a House of Representatives aspirant for the Akure South/Akure North federal constituency, was alleged to have insisted that Olanrewaju include names of his loyalists within his group on the beneficiary list, but the ward chairman refused to manipulate the list in Fadairo’s favour.
“When he refused to manipulate the list, the intimidation began,” the forum alleged. He was repeatedly harassed, trailed, and eventually beaten to the point of unconsciousness. He was rushed to the hospital.
“Leadership should protect people, not endanger them. Anyone who promotes violence is unfit for the privilege of public office.”
While describing the incident as barbaric and shameful, particularly from someone linked to the governor’s office, they stated that the incident had been reported to the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Zone 17, Akure.
Speaking on the incident, Fadairo, who denied the allegation, emphasised that the purported claims were lies fabricated to tarnish his image over his political ambition.
“There was no day I beat him or touched him. They are cooking up lies because they know I am popular in the ward, and they want to weaken my political structure, but they have failed.”
