An ex-militant leader who is also the Mayor of Urhoboland, Eshanakpe Israel a.k.a Akpodoro has described as efforts in futility by those he sees as faceless elements who are jealous and envious of the rising profile of the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, now the Chief of Staff to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Rt.Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, to cast in bad light and incite unsuspecting members of the public against the man he described as the treasure of the renewed hope era.
Reacting to a viral video by a self-styled group which goes by the name Young Progressives Arm of the All Progressives Congress, APC, and circulated online, Akpodoro, in Abuja Wednesday said, such group is faceless and does not exist but an orchestra of the opposition elements who intend to blackmail and paint in bad light, the President’s chief of staff.
The ‘blackmail’ according to the vociferous Mayor who doubles as the founder of the Urhobo Youth Forum for Change, UYFC is intended to drag the “reputable credentials of the former speaker to the mud” for suit their ‘wicked narratives’ noting that the new government is just taking shape without its own budget but the inherited one from the previous administration.
His Excellency wondered when and how the allegations of corruption by the faceless group against the COS to a president that is less than five months in the saddle got its information if not from their scandalous fake news mill where he said the opposition parties draw it strength.
Gbajabiamila, the Urhobo-born Mayor noted is astute and impeccable in character with sterling track records of lofty achievements while he held sway as the Speaker of the House of Representatives an arm of government he said he led meritoriously.
The allegations by the “so-called Young Progressives” are baseless good only for the trash bin and a product of mischievous minds.” He challenged the group to unveil itself and come for members of the Nigerian public to know them saying, truth has only one colour and that is the colour of salvation. “If the group is serious with all the lies they retailed in that video, they shouldn’t be afraid to unveil themselves and drive home their campaign but if not, they should burry their heads in shame.”
Akpodoro warned the opposition elements to desist from inciting memebers of the public against the government of President Tunubu saying, there are indications that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and Labour Party, LP leadership are paranoid and yet to recover from the humiliation meted out to them at the presidential polls by the incumbent President as he called on the security agencies to go after those who intend fomenting troubles riding on the wheel of misinformation and incitement of the Nigerian public against the government.
He described the group of Young Progressives as the hand of Esau and the voice of Jacob saying no amount of subterfuge and reckless scandal can make reasonable Nigerians believe the insinuations that a man who led the green chamber for four unblemished years will stoop so low to take bribe from prospective appointees of the government he represents.
Pointedly, His Excellency stated that, it should be known to memebers of the public that the Chief of Staff is an appointee of the President whose loyalty goes to the President and by extension the nation stating that blackmailing him won’t secure appointment for anyone.
The PDP and LP he argued are notorious for spreading unfounded allegations against the government and this he said is an open Knowledge to well meaning Nigerians saying such diminishes the image “deceptively being created by both political platforms.”
Gbajabiamila, the Mayor said, is driven by honesty in his service to humanity and should be left out of the frustrations of the bad losers who are bent on derailing democracy in Africa’s most populated black nation. “Tinubu has defeated them and will do it again in 2027 if they come up against him at the polls. A particular one who intended telling lies to power is jealous and mourning his defeat at the polls while that serial contender, loser, a perennial litigant at every post presidential election is funding fake news against top functionaries of the Nigerian government.”
There’s growing need, Akpodoro said to support the President in the discharge of his services to the nation as he called on Nigerians to resist the temptations posed by the non relenting anti democratic, unpatriotic and malicious opposition. “They will never go near the seat of power in our country. They lack national solidarity, honesty, good conscience, loyalty, and competence to rule our nation.” The Mayor stated.
