AD Berates Defecting Senator
BY YINKA ADERIGBIGBE
THE National Vice Chairman (Southwest) of the Alliance for Democracy (AD), Alhaji Olatunji Hamzat, has criticised Senator Musiliu Babatunde Obanikoro for defecting to the the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
Obanikoro, one of the AD Senators representing Lagos Central Senatorial District, was until his election the Commissioner for Home Affairs and Culture in Lagos State under Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu between 1999 and 2003.
The Senator formally presented his letter of defection to the Senate leadership on Thursday, citing intra-party wrangling in the AD and the governor's confrontations with the Federal Government for his actions.
But Hamzat, in a statement yesterday said that the pit of "political insignificance" where all those who toyed with the trust of Lagos residents would be cast, was awaiting the defector.
"We thought that Obanikoro was intelligent enough to learn from history as all those who have betrayed the trust of the people of Lagos State have always ended up in political insignificance," Hamzat stated.
The AD chieftain expressed relief that Obanikoro could no longer be a secret agent of the PDP even as he accused him of leaking leaking confidential information taken at the Lagos State Execitive Council while he served as commissioner.
The AD chieftain noted that what the senator had done was to steal through the back door, a mandate of the people of Lagos and hand it over to the PDP for petty contracts.
He recalled that at the last lesser Hajj in Mecca, and before the Kabar Obanikoro had sought Governor Tinubu's permission to flirt with the PDP "in order to serve as AD's secret agent within the party."
Hamzat continued: "He (Obanikoro) said it was important to have a trusted spy within the PDP to keep us abreast of happenings in the party. He said this was particularly necessary as Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe had confided in him that no matter how popular the AD was, President Olusegun Obansanjo would write the governorship election result for Lagos State come 2007."
The AD chieftain added: "The governor immediately and emphatically told him that he did not need any spy in the PDP and advised him to remain faithful to his mandate as a senator of the AD. Obanikoro gave his word before Almighty Allah and several living witnesses."
Hamzat wondered that if Obanikoro could violate his promise upon return to the country, it showed that the senator had no respect for God, himself or for other people.
The AD chieftain tendered apologies to party loyalists who worked to ensure the success of Obanikoro at the polls.
He added: "We solemnly assured our party members and the general electorate in Lagos State that we will leave no stone unturned till our stolen mandate is retrieved and justice is done."
