The Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Political Matters, Babafemi Ojudu has reacted to the sacking of Fulani herdsmen in southeast by activist, Sunday Igboho.
Giving more insights into the person of the Yoruba activist, Ojodu on Monday, January 25, narrated how he and the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, held a secret meeting with Igboho in 2009.
Ojudu said with his support, Tinubu persuaded Igboho not to interfere with the 2009 rerun election in Ekiti State.
Recall that Segun Oni of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had defeated Kayode Fayemi of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the 2007 gubernatorial election.
Fayemi, through the support of Tinubu, challenged the outcome of the election in court. In February 2009, an appeal court sitting in Ilorin ordered that a rerun be held in some polling units where the election held in 2007.
Ojudu said Tinubu summoned him after the ACN got wind of information that the PDP was planning to recruit thugs to rig the election, adding that he suggested that they should invite and dissuade the PDP thugs from disrupting the election.
He said: “We reached out to both Ade Basket in Akure and Fada Geri in Ondo. Both were dreaded in political circles. We had a series of meetings with them and were able to squeeze an agreement with them that they will not make themselves available to PDP for hire. I got them to even sign documents for me that they were going to stay off Ekiti elections. S
“The biggest headache for us then was Sunday Igboho who we learnt has been hired and paid by a Senator from Osun to come and cause mayhem in Ekiti. Tinubu instructed we must get him at all cost.” He explained that they were able to convince Igboho to ditch any plans of interfering with the electoral process after a meeting with Tinubu in Ondo state.
The presidential aide called on those who can rein in the herders to do so, adding that every possible thing should be done “to stave off this crisis and stop beating the drums of war before it reaches a crescendo”.
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