Senator Olufemi Lanlehin (Solan), chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has reacted to comments made on a radio programme by the Deputy National Chairman (South), of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Amb. Taofeek Arapaja, describing them as eccentric, ridiculous and provocative, though clearly not unexpected from a character like the PDP chieftain.
Lanlehin, in a statement released in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, by his Media Bureau, on Wednesday noted that such comments, particularly those directed at him weren’t the first, and won’t probably be the last, as the PDP chieftain, being a politician without class and candour, is like a pig, ready and willing to go into the mud, in defence of his meal ticket, irrespective of whomsoever he disparages, in the process of doing so.
The statement read in part: “Amb. Arapaja, being an appointee of Governor Makinde, is ready to go to war in defence of his principal, on one hand, and in the protection of his access to the perks of office, on another. If not, what will make him come on air to tell terrible lies, insult his elders and conduct himself arrogantly, to the chagrin of right-thinking fellows, and the egging on, of his bag-carriers, even to the point the now-deleted videos from the interview, advertised him as furious and utterly venomous? Only God knows what he would have done had he seen his principal’s opponents face to face!
“In validating his claim that Candidate Makinde (as he then was) gave Senator Lanlehin money, he alluded to maintenance works being carried out in his (Lanlehin) house, when he (Arapaja) visited. How he thinks a man of Senator Lanlehin’s standing couldn’t renovate his abode without external help is most unfortunate, and highly sinister.
“For the records, not being a governorship candidate, nor a campaign director-general, Arapaja was not, and could not, have had a frontrow seat in the coalition arrangements which birthed the Makinde government; whatever he must have been privy to, were mere eavesdroppings or second-hand tales.
“To therefore insinuate that Governor Makinde gave Senator Lanlehin money can be likened to the illustrious words of Williams Shakespeare in Macbeth, as “a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”.
“Instead of Arapaja to act as Governor Makinde’s spokesperson, telling outlandish lies about matters he knows next to nothing about, Senator Lanlehin would rather challenge the governor to publish details of whatever money he ever gave him, or better still, instruct his leaches, the type of Arapaja, to keep shut, instead of fouling the waters of decent politics Senator Lanlehin reputedly plays.
“Lanlehin, who once represented Oyo South Senatorial District between 2011 and 2015, urged Arapaja, not to take the imminent loss of his boss – which has unexpectedly made him become furious, venomous and irritational – to heart. He, instead, should only encourage his boss to start writing his handover notes, as the good people of Oyo State were ready to vote out an incompetent government built on lies and propaganda, and vote in a compassionate and charismatic personality, in the person of Senator Teslim Folarin.
“Amb. Arapaja, Senator Lanlehin remarked, deserves the pity of the good people of Oyo State, instead of the opprobrium which should naturally follow his hollow outbursts.”
