A chieftain of the Labour Party, Barrister Kayode Ajulo, has denied the involvement of the party in the fracas that erupted at the venue of the 5th Memorial Lecture in memory of the late presidential candidate of the Alliance for Democracy, Chief Adebayo Adefarati, in Akure, Ondo State.
Ajulo, in a statement, said that it was a fracas between members of the AD, who were denied entry into the venue of the lecture, and chieftains of the Action Congress of Nigeria, who put the lecture together.
He said that the AD, with a faction under the leadership of a former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, betrayed Adefarati, especially when he sought for the presidency on the platform of the party, resulting eventually in the formation of the Action Congress and then the ACN.
Ajulo, the LP senatorial candidate for the 2011 election, explained his position: “The reported fracas in Akure was about old rivalry between Alliance for Democracy and the Action Congress of Nigeria.
“Labour Party has nothing to do with it.
“Recall that Chief Adefarati was AD governor who felt betrayed by Tinubu-led faction in AD that metamorphosed to AC and then to ACN.
“Before the event, there have been accusations and counter accusations between AD and ACN as to who to organise the memorial lecture in honour of Chief Adefarati who died as AD presidential candidate.
“The remaining AD associates have accused ACN of trying to hijack the lecture for political gains.
“The violence erupted when the ACN tried to deny AD stalwarts entry into the venue of the lecture.
“Dr. Olusegun Mimiko and my party, LP, have nothing to do with the fracas as reported in some media as I have challenged ACN to debate with forensic evidence on this issue.”