war: Fayose and Aluko battle still continues

•Says no reconciliation with governor
•Govt files mandamus for arrest

Did the embattled whistleblower on the last Ekiti State governorship election, Dr. Tope Aluko and Governor Ayo Fayose really reconcile on Sunday in Lagos?

Contrary to what the world was made to believe, the “raging feud” between the duo is far from being over.

Aluko, who described the reconciliation between him and Fayose as a “joke of the Century”, insisted that he never begged for forgiveness from the governor as being peddled in some quarters.

He accused Fayose’s Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka of “hypocrisy, distortion of facts and spreading lies” on the “reconciliation process”.

At a briefing in Lagos, Aluko said he was under duress to admit to a reconciliation, which was aimed at tarnishing his integrity.

He said he went to Eko Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos on Sunday to honour an invitation by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leadership to address some issues affecting the state.

Aluko said he went to the meeting with his wife, adding that he was shocked to see the governor walk into the meeting. He noted that he accepted to be at the meeting because he was invited by two senior members of the party.

His words: “I need not recall the drama and face-off that ensued between Fayose and I at the meeting. At a point, my wife barged into the meeting to inform me of the presence of reporters.

“I became enraged and decided to leave the place but I noticed the governor rushing after me downstairs in a Gestapo manner.

“My wife was fidgeting and almost crying and suddenly I could not find her around me. I realised that I need to obey Fayose’s instruction to face the press because of my family’s safety.”

The former PDP scribe said he still stand by his words. “I have earlier told Nigerians about the manipulation of the 2014 governorship election and I still stand by all I said.

“You will notice the several counter allegations by Fayose and his media team that none of them has refuted all I have said. Rather the attack has been on the messenger and not the message. I will like to apologise to Nigerians that perhaps, accepting the invitation was a tactical error.

“I will also like you to know that I am dealing with a master fraudster who is always full of mischief. You will all recollect how he announced the purported death of Afolabi Akanni; the purported arrest of four members of the House of Assembly.

“I need to emphasise that all that transpired at Eko Hotel on that day was an organised propaganda/drama to stain my image and malign my personal integrity and I believe it would be a good script for Nollywood,” he said.

Aluko also spoke on his Twitter handle where he posted two tweets on what really transpired in Lagos.

In a tweet posted on Monday, he said:  “I did not collect any money from Fayose. I was invited to a meeting by well meaning Nigerians and I felt it was imperative to honour such a meeting but I was surprised to see reporters around.”

In another tweet posted yesterday, the PDP chieftain described the governor as a “chameleon”, adding that the reconciliation was staged to assassinate his character.

Aluko declared that the battle line is now drawn and will continue until there is a victor and a vanquished.

He said: “I did not beg Fayose, he approached me and it was courteous that I honored Ekiti leaders who wanted peace to reign in Ekiti, contrary to the lies being spread by Fayose’s mouthpiece Lere Olayinka.

“I have come forward in strong terms to rubbish Olayinka’s hypocrisy with his distortion of facts about the reconciliation process. The spread of lies about my ‘repentance’ is calculated.

“Fayose and his paid agents are cowards who only want sympathy through the back door. Their pranks can only be described as ‘the joke of the century’.

“I know Fayose well. He is a chameleon and I also know that he must have devised all these arrangements to further assassinate my character and that was why I was meticulous by not speaking to the press.

“Like I said  on Monday, I won’t dignify Olayinka with a response and I won’t join issues with him but the public should know that it was peace they claim they wanted and now that they have indicated their insincerity, it therefore means the battle continues until there is a victor and a vanquished.”

The government has said the case of perjury against Aluko would go on in court.

Addressing a briefing in Ado-Ekiti yesterday, the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Owoseni Ajayi, said the state has filed amandamus in the court to compel Aluko’s arrest.

This, he said, became necessary, following the failure of the Commissioner of Police and the Inspector General of Police to arrest Aluko, following an arrest warrant ordered by an Ado-Ekiti Chief Magistrate’s Court.

Ajayi alleged that the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami,  has not done enough to advise the Federal Government to obey court orders.

The commissioner claimed that despite the warrant of arrest slammed on him, Aluko still goes about with military and police escorts.

Ajayi said: “The apology of Aluko to Governor Fayose was personal. We can’t because of this interventionist apology collapse all our cases, government is not run that way.

“We can’t abandon our responsibilities as a state just because someone

apologised to our governor on a case already in court. They are not fresh cases and we will pursue it to a logical conclusion,” he said.

APC: reconciliation changes nothing

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has said that the purported truce between Governor Ayo Fayose and Dr Tope Aluko will not alter anything on the revelations on the probe of the June 21, 2014 governorship election fraud.

It maintained that the meeting between Fayose and Aluko won’t affect the credibility of the evidence Aluko forwarded to the military on the alleged rigging of the 2014 governorship poll.

The APC denied luring Aluko to lie against Fayose and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), saying what transpired in Lagos over the weekend was an internal affair of the umbrella party and that the opposition had no hand in it.

The truce report has started generating ripples among Nigerians, with Fayose’s media aide, Lere Olayinka, dismissing the army probe as a charade.

But APC Publicity Secretary Taiwo Olatunbosun said in a statement yesterday that the reported truce between Fayose and Aluko would not alter anything in the revelations at the probe panel.

He said it was mischievous to insinuate that Aluko was lured by the APC to lie against Fayose and the military officers who were dismissed after they were found guilty by the Army probe panel.

Dismissing allegations that Aluko was lured by APC to implicate Fayose and the soldiers, Olatunbosun explained:

“This is purely an internal matter within PDP and so APC has no hand in it. The reported meeting between Fayose and Aluko brokered by PDP leaders has proven conclusively that the latter is a full member of PDP.

“It is that recognition by PDP that made its leaders to invite the duo to a peace meeting, and contrary to Olayinka’s insinuation, it is on record that Aluko had always insisted that his revelation at the probe panel was in response to APC’s petition against him on the controversial election in which he had to make restitution through confession to clear his conscience.”

He added: “It is mischievous to insinuate that Aluko’s reconciliation with Fayose will hurt the credibility of the probe panel. We must note that Aluko swore to an oath before making his testimony at the probe panel, and so his statement remains sacrosanct till the last is heard on the matter to ensure justice in the resolution of Ekitigate.”

He also warned Olayinka against attempt to discredit the entire probe process by saying that the military relied on Aluko’s lie to dismiss its top officers.