Attack on my people, I leave judgement to God – Bello
EXCLUSIVE | Attack on my people, I leave judgement to God – Bello
Rt. Hon. Adejare Bello, a former Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly and 2018 Governorship hopeful under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in this interview by FEMI ADESOLA, speaks about the alleged attack by hoodlums working for Senator Ademola Adeleke, Prine Uche Secondus’s influence on the Osun PDP Guber ticket, Ede Politics, among others
How embarrassed are you, about the clashes that occurred between your followers and Senator Ademola Adeleke’s followers, during the PDP zonal rally that almost disrupt the event?
My followers did not clash with anybody, what happened was an unprovoked attack on my followers, without committing any sin other than they carried my placards, poster boards, wearing my T-shirt and seeing my aspirations, those were the offences according to the people from Adeleke side and I have reported to the party because that of Saturday was the fifth attack on my people and there is a limit to the kind of control I can exercise on people if it continues, people will be forced to come out of their shells and it will not augur well, it will be very dangerous to that community (Ede), even to our party, whoever God likes he give power, it doesn’t matter that you have just come or you have been there for longtime, God can give power to anybody, Senator Ademola was never in politics contesting with anybody and he came in his first shot and was able to get it and that’s God for you. We should learn not to plan things for ourselves we should leave God to determine your fate, its not about carrying hoodlums about, if I want to buy cutlasses, guns, clubs, for other people’s children I should first buy for my own children to carry the cutlasses and guns, that means I want to protect my own children I don’t want anything bad to happen to them, but I don’t care what happens to other children, that’s where maladministration start because people don’t give consideration to other people’s’ children. How can you go and hire people to do hatchet job for you to go and attack others? Everyone following one aspirant or the other were carrying photo board just to show my aspirant too is on ground. They even told them to remove their t-shirt, is that done? If have allowed them to retaliate, that programme would have stopped because nobody will wait, everyone will be scampering for safety, but once the matter was reported, they told me some three or four of my followers were seriously injured, I instructed they should be taken to the hospital in Ede I want the people there to see what they did to them, till I speak to you 48 hours after the incident the boys are still in the hospital, they nearly killed one of them with matchet and club in the neck region very close to the esophagus, doctors report are there, funny enough the lawyer in me has not asked me to report to the police, they wanted to report but I asked them not to do so. I want to use this opportunity to warn them for the last time, they did same thing to my boys when we went to Dr Olu Alabi’s house, they came with four buses loaded with thugs and my boys were attacked it was only me that wasn’t attacked. Am saying this because there’s a limit to endurance. I want to warn whoever that is responsible for this because nobody has the monopoly of violence. In this 21st century what do you think parading marauders can do for you, many of them do not even have voters card let alone to qualify as ward delegates, so I don’t want to have anything to do with miscreants I only have business with genuine voters.
It is evident that there’s misunderstanding between your camp and Senator Ademola Adeleke, are you ready to give in for any reconciliation?
I’ve made a vow that in this contest till I become the Governor of Osun state, that I won’t fight with anybody and I mean it, but I cannot say the same for my followers, if my followers were attacked and they retaliate I cannot control that, but I Adejare Bello will not fight nor abuse anyone because my focus is how to get the ticket of the party and win the general election, so what is my own about abusing people or fighting, if you are not supporting me you have your reasons and how can you begin to drive away my own supporters. They even threatened anyone putting on my branded shirt and face cap in town will be attacked, my supporters are going about in palpable fear, like I said there’s a limit people can endure that, like I said am not in crisis with anybody and I don’t want to but they must stop attacking my followers to prevent lawlessness.
There are rumours going round that your camp is jittery because of Senator Adeleke’s closeness to the Party’s National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus?
The National Chairman doesn’t have voting right in Osun State and he can only send representatives to conduct the elections and it won’t be conducted in the beer parlour, it will be done in an open space. He has little or no control over the elections not to talk of giving some people ballot paper to vote because we know ourselves here, I know virtually all the delegates from 332 wards by face, might not know their name but I know their leaders. So it will amount to blackmail to say that Uche Secondus will do this or that. If you like go and be sleeping in Uche Secondus’s bedroom and claim to be his friend or brother, It doesn’t add up, it is the novices that will be moved by that kind of arrangement and it is not only one aspirant that knows Uche Secondus, many of us get to know him as far back, infact, I was very close to Rivers State when Rotimi Amaechi was the Speaker, I know him he knows me very well, but by my nature I don’t claim what doesn’t belong to me, so don’t allow anybody to tell you because Ademola Adeleke is close to Uche Secondus therefore he already has the ticket, let me tell you If Ademola Adeleke knew he will be given ticket on a platter of gold why is he moving round the local government galvanizing support? Because he knows the truths that there’s no shortcut on the palm tree.
But we have seen in some situations where some aspirants colluded with National Executives to alter the delegates list?
That was PDP of those days, we have a rebranded PDP under Uche Secondus, he made a vow that under his watch no alteration of delegate list, the delegate list is not from Rivers State, they are from Osun State, so Uche Secondus cannot manufacture any delegate anywhere, so he assured all of us and if there is any assurance that Uche Secondus can manipulate for us we will not be going about to canvass for support, you know the most difficult aspect in politics is to go from one Ward and Local Government to another. So closeness of Senator Adeleke to Uche Secondus does not count, what counts is who and who are ready to vote for you on the day of the primary election and that’s the most important thing to me than dissipating my energy on things that will not give me value.
Do you regret supporting Senator Ademola Adeleke to emerge as the Senator representing Osun West Senatorial District?
I will never regret supporting Ademola Adeleke and I will never be a victim of anything, how will I regret if I did not mean to work for him? I was determined to work for my town, so if he turns to be something else or an albatross for me today it doesn’t matter, God knows where he is going and God knows where he is taking me to, so about supporting Ademola I will never regret it and I will pray that he will never have cause to regret it too because in the past we have worked together as a team in the same party whether for my success in the electioneering process or for the success of his late elder brother so we were together. I won four election back to back under his brother’s watch, if today I work for him to become a Senator too how will I regret that? If he did not tell me he will contest for Governor and he changed his mind he has the right to, he has the constitutional right, we can’t query him, so there is no regret on my part that I supported him.
Finally so what advise do you have for your followers?
To my followers I will still plead with them like I did on Saturday, when they regrouped in my house that they are going to town to cause mayhem. I warned them if you are truly supporting me, please don’t attack anyone, leave the judgment to Almighty God, those that perpetrated it like I told you it was never reported to the police whether it is reported or action taken or not I have reported at the party office in Oshogbo and they have sent people down here to come and see things for themselves, whether anybody takes action or not, it is a law of Karma , if you can club someone on the head that means you aim to kill, if I’d reported by now they would have picked many of them but that is not important because if they were arrested and prosecuted by police to me its not punishment but the one by the Almighty God.
Post a Comment