SUNTV GLOBAL CHANNEL REPORT
Political tension has intensified within the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State after a Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) board member, Otito Atikase, alleged that armed thugs were paid to assassinate him during a violent invasion of the party’s state secretariat in Akure.
Atikase accused the state governor, Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa, of masterminding the attack, warning that he should be held responsible if any harm comes to him.
According to Atikase, chaos erupted on Tuesday during a pre-congress stakeholders’ meeting held ahead of the party’s ward congresses across the state’s 203 wards. He claimed more than 100 armed men stormed the venue wielding cutlasses, clubs, and other dangerous weapons.
“Their mission was clear — to eliminate me. They openly said they had been paid to assassinate me,” he alleged.
The commissioner said several party leaders were injured in the attack, including the APC State Chairman, Ade Adetimehin, and former Sports Commissioner Saka Yusuf-Ogunleye.
He further alleged that the attackers declared loyalty to the governor and were led by the Ondo State chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), who allegedly directed who should be targeted.
Atikase described the incident as premeditated and politically motivated, claiming it was designed to force certain party leaders out of the secretariat so another meeting could take place with a congress committee from Abuja.
He also raised concerns that his social media account was temporarily suspended shortly after he publicly spoke about threats to his life.
The Ondo State Government has strongly rejected the accusations.
In a statement issued by Information Commissioner Idowu Ajanaku, the government described the claims as “malicious, baseless, and politically motivated.”
Officials insisted Governor Aiyedatiwa neither knew about the meeting nor had any connection to the violence, emphasizing that his administration maintains a zero-tolerance stance toward political thuggery.
The government also urged the public to ignore what it called misinformation capable of destabilizing the state’s political climate.
The incident highlights deepening internal divisions within the APC in Ondo State ahead of its ward congresses, raising concerns about escalating political rivalry and security risks within the party.
