House of Rep member escapes attack at APC inauguration. Tragedy was averted on Wednesday in Lagos when a member of the House of Representatives, Chief Michael Ogunnusi, narrowly escaped being attacked by some aggrieved members of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria in Ifako-Ijaye Local Government, Lagos, during the inauguration of the All Progressives Congress in the council. Trouble started when the lawmaker, who represents the council in the National Assembly while making a speech at the event announced a donation of N200,000 to augment efforts of the members and leaders across the ward levels in the council. Ogunnusi’s speech came shortly after that of a former Special Adviser on Education in Lagos State, Mr. Elijah Adewale, who donated N50, 000 to every ward within the local government for the same purpose. The lawmaker’s gesture angered many of the APC members, who rejected the money and disrupted the ceremony for what they termed “insult on them by the Reps member as if we are beggars.’’ The atmosphere was tense as Ogunnusi’s security aides made frantic efforts to whisk him away from the venue to save him from being attacked. As they guarded him out of the vicinity, he was pelted with sachets of pure water by the rampaging youths. In the melee, chairs were broken and some party members and passers-by fled the area in different directions. One of the aggrieved APC members, who spoke with our correspondent shortly after normalcy returned to the venue, said it was not the amount of the money that angered the members but the manner it was offered. He said, ‘‘Since election ended in 2011, Ogunnusi has refused to attend meetings in the local government, claiming he was busy with state matters in Abuja. He was avoiding us like a plague and now he came to woo us with N200, 000 when election is approaching. He thinks we are beggars.’’ Another member, who gave her name as Kafayat, said, ‘‘What happened today is a proof that the electorate will no longer tolerate any member of the political class, who uses them during election and abandons them when he or she gets to position.” Chairman of the defunct ACN in the council, Mr. Akintunde Fadayomi, said members of the party had always asked him to tell Ogunnusi to find time to attend the party meetings in the council. Meanwhile, female politicians in the defunct ACN in Lagos have urged the leadership of the APC to carter for their rights under the new party. The politicians who spoke through women leader of Oriade Local Council Development Area, Chief Simbiat Badmus, made the appeal during the inauguration of the APC in the LCDA on Wednesday. Simbiat, who is the mother of a former Deputy Speaker in Lagos State House of Assembly, Bola Badmus, explained that the only way women could be rewarded for their effort was by giving them top political positions. Also, chairman, Mushin Local Government Area, Mr. Babatunde Adepitan, described the APC as the hope for the oppressed in the country. Adepitan said this during the inauguration of the newly-formed political party in Lagos on Wednesday, a statement by his Information Officer, Akinyemi Olusegun, said. At the inauguration of the party in Ado Odo/Ota LG, the protem Chairman, Mr. Quawiy Salako, commended the efforts of the national protem chairman,Chief Bisi Akande and the national leader, Chief Bola Tinubu in building a formidable party. Salako, who was supported by other party members from the defunct Congress for Progressive Change, All Nigeria Peoples Party among others, said the party would provide the dividends of democracy to the citizenry if voted into office. In similar vein, the representative of Osun-East Senatorial District, Senator Babajide Omoworare, said the APC would liberate Nigeria from the grip of the Peoples Democratic Party. In an Eid-il Fitri message by his Media Assistant, Mr. Tunde Dairo, Omoworare, on Wednesday, said the registration of APC in the month of Ramadan was symbolic.
Posted on: Thu, 08 Aug 2013 18:15:44 +0000