He threatened to petition the anti-graft agency, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission if the former governor failed to refund the money to Oyo PDP.
The current Deputy National Chairman (South) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Taofeek Arapaja, has blamed a former governor of Oyo State, Rasheed Ladoja for the loss of the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar in the state.
Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was declared the winner in Oyo, a state under the control of a PDP governor, Seyi Makinde.
Tinubu polled 449,884 to defeat Atiku who polled 182,977, and Peter Obi of Labour Party (LP), who polled 99,110. Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) polled 4,095 to come in fourth place.
In a trending video, Arapaja accused Ladoja of collecting funds for mobilization in the state during the February 25th presidential election but “pocketed everything without releasing a dime to the party in the state”, hence the poor performance of PDP across the state.
Speaking in Yoruba, he threatened to petition the anti-graft agency, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission if the former governor failed to refund the money to Oyo PDP.
“Ladoja is behaving as if he’s God. He doesn’t own Ibadan; this land of Ibadan belongs to all of us. He collected our election money from Atiku Abubakar for Presidential election mobilization without releasing a dime. The money was given to him by his friend, Atiku to be sent to us in Oyo PDP without releasing a dime,” Arapaja said.
“We do not even know the party he belongs to. We do not know whether he is a member of PDP, APC, ADC, ZLP, Accord or SDP. He attends meetings of all parties. He collected the money meant for mobilization from Atiku for the Presidential election without remitting one kobo.
“That is wickedness. Now he is playing to the gallery, accusing Makinde of wrongdoings whereas the old man sold PDP in Oyo to the opposition during the Presidential election by not releasing the election mobilization fund.”
Ladoja recently endorsed the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Teslim Folarin, for Saturday’s election.
He was the governor of the state between 2003 and 2007 on the platform of the PDP.
The Ibadan chief defected to the Zenith Labour Party in December 2018 and led a coalition of parties to successfully back Seyi Makinde for election in 2019.
Ladoja has expressed displeasure with Makinde over his handling of the 25 February National Assembly elections in the state in which the APC won most of the seats, compared to his Osun state counterpart, Ademola Adeleke.
“In the just concluded National Assembly elections, all the three senators under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party lost. And this is not about the history of Oyo State, but also about the history of the person in power. We saw an example of this in Osun State,” he said.
“Osun State governor, Ademola Adeleke, has only been in power for three months, yet he was able to clear all the House of Representatives and senatorial seats for candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during the just concluded National Assembly elections. And then, we have to know that Osun State is in a peculiar position because it is the roots of Bola Tinubu, the president-elect.
“After Oyo State governor, Seyi Makinde, picked the PDP House of Representatives and senatorial candidates to represent the state at the National Assembly, he didn’t offer any form of support to them.
“He didn’t spend money to support them or give out a word to the citizens for any single one of them. Even God detests actions that are unfair and unjust.”
The PDP however described the endorsement as laughable, adding that Ladoja’s action won’t have an effect on the party’s performance in the poll.
“Folarin knows he cannot defeat Makinde any day. It is visible to the blind that our people did not vote for APC during the Presidential election on February 25th but for the person of Tinubu. Folarin may be grandstanding but deep in his mind, he knows he is going nowhere because he is not trusted by the people. He does not have the grassroots appeal,” a member of the PDP was quoted as saying.
“Senator Folarin feels that the only way he could have a chance is by getting the support Baba Ladoja which he has succeeded in getting by all means necessary. Folarin has technically dumped the members and owners of APC in Oyo State because Ladoja will own his government if he wins.
“Oloye Ladoja will nominate Commissioners, Special Advisers and council Chairmen if Folarin wins. I can confidently and confidentially confirm this to you. Ladoja worked for Atiku Abubakar during the Presidential election. Now he is working for Folarin.
“We know what Atiku scored in Oyo State. Atiku is even popular in Oyo State than Teslim Folarin, yet Baba who claimed to own the voters in our state could not get the former Vice-president any meaningful votes.”