The internal wrangling in the Osun State Chapter of the People’s Democratic Party is assuming a scary dimension following utterances of the leader of the governing party.
The state chairman of the party, Sunday Bisi, threatened fire and brimstone on members of Atunto Osun, a group led by a former PDP governorship aspirant in the state, Dotun Babayemi, in Ijesaland, and across the state.
In a video watched by The Point on Tuesday, Bisi who spoke at Awo in Egbedore Local Government on Sunday, vowed to lead the attack on any member of the faction whenever he sees them in his constituency.
The faction led by Babayemi recently launched a movement tagged ‘Atunto,’ to reposition the party for effective performance in the 2026 governorship election.
Reacting to the development, the party chairman said the faction had been suspended and whoever sees the members should unleash terror on them.
Speaking in Yoruba and English language, Bisi said, “Those who gathered and called themselves Atunto, you will notice that you have not been hearing them again; you will never hear them again. The disgruntled elements that call themselves Atunto collected money from APC, those are agents of APC that took the party to the Supreme Court, they knew that even if the case was delivered in their favour, they wouldn’t be the beneficiary. I said that they are not our party members. They have been expelled from the party and they stand expelled from the party.
“I am an Ijesa man and in fact, we Ijesas are known for war. So if you see these people (Babayemi’s group) who call themselves Atunto in this local government, drive them away until they become useless. At this point, I am saying unequivocally and publicly too, that in the Ijesa land where I come from, nobody dare call himself/herself Atunto. If I see any of such, I will personally lead the war to their camp and beat them thoroughly,” Bisi threatened.
Meanwhile, Babayemi while reacting, urged the state police command and the Directorate of State Security Services to invite the state party chairman for questioning over the threat.
In a release issued by his media office on Monday, Babayemi, who decried the unguarded statements of Bisi, implored security agencies to take necessary action against the state PDP chairman for inciting his supporters to unsettle the peace being enjoyed in the state.
“I am for peace at all times; my teeming supporters across the state are known for their peaceful conduct. The Atunto in question is a cooperative society duly registered and protected by the law. It’s a society present in all the local governments in the state. On whose authority is Sunday Bisi speaking and threatening a lawful body?” Babayemi wondered.
He warned the state PDP chairman not to jeopardise the peace currently being enjoyed by the people of the state through his ‘recklessness,’ insisting that he would continue to ensure that the peaceful waters of the state were not unsettled through any undue provocation.
Babayemi disclosed that a petition had been forwarded to the IGP and other security agencies in Abuja for their intervention in order to avert a turmoil.
Notwithstanding, the ruling party said it stands by Bisi in his vituperation and commended him for his “determination to maintain discipline in the rank and file of the party.”
The party, in a statement signed by its Director of Media, Oladele Bamiji, on Tuesday, asked those plotting to infiltrate the party in order to destabilize it to look elsewhere to ply their trade of mischief.
“The party commended all discerning minds in the state, who saw through the sincerity of purpose of Hon Sunday Bisi, in his usual frank element as chairman of the ruling party, warding off induced undertakers, who are obviously peeping through all possible holes to inject venom of discord in the party, basically to pave way for their collaborators, languishing in the oven of their rejection by the good people of Osun State.
“In the first instance, Hon Sunday Bisi has the interest of his party to protect as chairman. So, if he’s not dancing to the whims of enemies of the party, they should live with it and stop crying as a river.
“Nigeria will not forget in a hurry how the immediate past APC national chairman, Abdullahi Adamu instructed stakeholders of his party, live on camera, to go to Osun State and win the 2022 governorship election at whatever cost. All APC would tell the world was that the chairman has a right to protect his party interest. How then on earth does it become a crime for Hon Sunday Bisi to protect the interest of the party in Osun State?
“PDP is a creation of laws of the land and discipline. The chairman is not out of order in his stance to mobilize against any external aggression. As a matter of fact, he would have failed in his mandate as chairman of the party, if he had sat and watched the ‘never do wells’ infiltrate the party he leads as chairman, destroy it and jump at the opportunity to dislodge from office, the performing Governor of the state, His Excellency Senator Ademola Jackson Nurudeen Adeleke.
“Anybody can create any political butterfly in his belly as it suits their fancy, but it is within the mandate of the chairman of our great party in the state to sensitize and mobilize his members against plots considered inimical to the wellbeing of the party.
“Hon Sunday Bisi is a peace-loving party stalwart, but he is not a trader of collective destiny of people. He is frank, upright and straightforward in his records as a politician and certainly will not hold back on such attributes that endeared him to members of the party who gave him the leadership mandate,” Bamiji emphasised.