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| Aluko and Fayose at the occasion |
Former
factional Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Dele Olugbemi, has
revealed how he allegedly took the former Secretary of the Peoples Democratic
Party in the state, Dr. Tope Aluko, to Governor Ayodele Fayose on Sunday.
He
debunked claims by Aluko that Fayose stage-managed the reconciliatory meeting,
adding that he and Aluko prostrated for Fayose thrice to beg him to forgive
Aluko.
Olugbemi,
in a statement in Ado Ekiti, said he was surprised that Aluko addressed
the press and claimed that he spoke to the journalists under duress, after willingly
attending the Sunday night meeting with the governor.
Olugbemi
said, “The existing cordial relationship between Aluko and myself brought us to
a discussion that eventually led to last Sunday, April 3, 2016 meeting. Even
when the governor told him to sit down, he prostrated and I also prostrated
along with him to beg the governor for total forgiveness.
“The
governor asked Aluko four questions: whether he knew the implication of his
coming to him; why he behaved in that manner; how old he was; and whether he
wanted the reconciliation to be total or partial and he (Aluko) replied that he
knew the consequence of coming to him and that if he did not want total
reconciliation, he would not come to see the governor.
“At
this point, Aluko stood up again, saying my mentor, my leader, my egbon; I am your boy;
you know, I am your boy. Whatever step I have taken before now, forgive
me. Aluko and I prostrated again.”
Narrating
how the meeting was arranged and held, Olugbemi said, “Before we agreed to meet
in Lagos, I first suggested that the meeting should take place in the Ekiti
State Government House after the wedding of the niece of Governor Fayose but
Aluko said he was not too comfortable with the arrangement because of the fear
that he might be arrested.
“I
reassured him that the intention of the meeting was not to arrest, embarrass or
humiliate him but to reconcile hm with Governor Fayose, whom he called his
mentor.
“In
the morning of Sunday April 3, we agreed to meet in Lagos and I left Ekiti for
Lagos. I got to Lagos at noon; I lodged in a hotel at Magodo Area
of Lagos.
“At
1 pm, Aluko called me to confirm my hotel room number and I gave it to
him. Aluko called me back and promised to be with me within 20
minutes. Fifteen minutes later, he called me again, and I told him that I
was cutting my hair at a salon in Magodo. He asked me to come
out of the salon and we met. He came in a blue Ford Jeep together with
his woman.
“I
joined them in the car and we drove to my hotel room where Aluko stayed with me
till 2 pm. He later instructed me to call the governor to ascertain the time
and place of the meeting.”
Olugbemi
said when he called the governor, he did not pick but later called the
Chief of Staff to the governor.
“The
Chief of Staff told me to call either the ADC or the CSO to the governor for
further directive. The CSO told us that the meeting will take place at
the Governor’s House, a residence in Magodo, at 7.30pm.
“I
told Aluko but he was not too comfortable with the venue of the meeting.
He said if the meeting was about reconciliation, it should hold elsewhere and
not at the governor’s residence. I pleaded with the governor that the
meeting should hold elsewhere as demanded by Tope Aluko, which the governor
obliged. All these I was doing because I wanted the crisis to be totally
resolved.
“Immediately
we were told of a new venue for the meeting, Aluko left my hotel room for
Victoria Island and promised to come back at 7pm. At 7.45pm, Aluko came back to
meet me at my Magodo hotel. At 9pm, I called the governor to inform him of
Aluko’s arrival. The governor asked if I was sure Aluko was with me and I
said yes.
“The
governor told us to come to Eko Hotel and his friend will welcome us and that
he would join us later. We drove in Aluko’s car, myself, a woman, a driver and
my personal assistant.
“We
got to the Eko Hotel at 9.50pm. We were taken to the hotel’s waiting
room. Myself, Aluko, the ADC and a governor’s friend entered the same lift to
the fourth floor of the hotel.
“Inside
the hotel room, we prayed and I opened the floor for discussion, as agreed by
Aluko. In my submission, I pleaded with the governor to forgive and forget
about the previous comments and allegations made by Aluko against him since he
is a father to us all.
Aluko interjected and said that I should allow him to
lead the talk.
“The
governor told him to stop fooling himself at 50 and if he allowed himself to be
used by the All Progressives Congress at 50, what legacy will he leave for his
children?
The governor told him that there were going to be reactions to the
meeting by the APC. He therefore advised Aluko to switch-off his phones and
rest for at least two weeks to avoid counter allegations.
The governor
said that the APC would fire back at Aluko because of the money he had received
from the party to malign him.”
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