The chieftains of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun and the aides to Governor Ademola Adeleke engaged in a minor brawl over a seating arrangement on Wednesday at the central Eid prayer area in Osogbo, Platinum Times report.
Before the altercation, Muslims in Osogbo, the capital of Osun, gathered to pray at the Eid prayer site.
The Gazette learned that Mr. Adeleke was unable to attend the two raka’at prayer ceremonies at the Eid venue due to the conflict.
Ajibola Basiru, an APC official and former senate spokesperson, and Tunde Badmus, a prominent Islamic figure, caused trouble when they arrived at the prayer place in the Oke-Baale neighborhood of the state capital and grabbed seats in the first row.
According to reports, some supporters of Mr. Adeleke and members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were enraged by Mr. Basiru’s posture and hurriedly requested that the senator take the governor’s designated seat.
According to reports, PDP chieftain Muniru Raji informed Mr. Basiru that the governor should give up his seat to Mr. Adeleke because he was already heading to the prayer area.
The former senate spokesperson eventually moved to a different portion of the same front row in response to repeated requests, but the PDP chieftain was still unsatisfied.
The governor’s protocol officers attempted to step in during the ensuing argument, but their attempts resulted in chaos.
However, as Mr. Adeleke arrived at the location and saw the scenario, his security personnel forbade him from getting out of his car.
Olawale Rasheed, the governor’s spokesman, responded to the incident by saying that his boss averted “an assassination attempt” at the prayer area.
Mr. Rasheed accused Mr. Basiru of starting the disturbance at the prayer and denounced the planned assault on the governor at the worshipping grounds.
He claims that when the governor arrived at the location in hopes of watching the Eid prayers, he found himself practically encircled by armed thugs, which prompted security personnel to put the governor into his jeep.
“The government particularly notes with shock and surprise the role played by former Senator Ajibola Basiru, who took over the space reserved for the Governor at the prayer ground. All efforts to get the former Senator to vacate the space proved abortive.
“The government was even more shocked that thugs armed to the teeth were spotted all over the praying ground with the security information that they were imported to eliminate the Governor and key government functionaries.
“For the second time, the Governor attempted to enter the praying field but the encirclement by armed thugs was already visible. It was at that point that the Governor had to leave the praying ground,” he said in a statement on Wednesday evening.
He added that the governor had already directed security operatives to arrest those involved in the incident.
“The Commissioner of Police has been directed to arrest those involved no matter how highly placed.”
But in a swift reaction, Mr Basiru denied bringing in thugs to the prayer ground to assassinate the governor.
He described the claim by the governor’s spokesman of an attempt to eliminate Mr Adeleke was highly misplaced.
“If anybody says that I, Ajibola Basiru attempt to assassinate the governor of Osun state, the person needs psychiatric examination. I never saw the governor today and I’m not sure the governor set his eyes on me.
“Rather, I was assaulted by thugs of PDP led by Muniru Raji at the praying ground where I was sitting to pray,” Mr Basiru said.