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.
But reacting, Aluko, who in an interview with our correspondent denied meeting Olugbemi, said he was being used by the governor to sustain the propaganda against him.
“It is all lies. It is part of the plot to sustain the propaganda against me. Olugbemi is an appointee of the governor in the State Universal Basic Education Board. So, he is doing the bidding of his master.
“I only saw him when he barged into the meeting with the governor. I didn’t have any discussion with him and couldn’t have gone with him to the meeting. He is only being used.”
Stating that he facilitated the meeting out of genuine concern for peace, Olugbemi argued that Aluko could not deny re-affirming that Fayose remained “his mentor, leader and father.” Besides, he quoted Aluko as having said that all his previous actions were devil’s work and that he was under spiritual attack when he was saying all those things against 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.”
