APC Chieftain Raises Concern Over Alleged Activities of GMT Support Groups, calls Minister to review Sponsorship.

A Chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State, Mr. Sunday Taiwo, popularly known as Hon. Digestive, has expressed worries over the role of the Grassroots Mobilization for Tinubu (GMT) in the state, warning that the activities of the group could create disunity within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

In an open letter addressed to the Minister of Interior, Hon. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, Taiwo alleged that the GMT, under its current leadership, was being used to discredit Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, despite his open support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s second-term ambition. He cautioned that allowing political jobbers to use the minister’s name and resources to undermine the state governor could destabilize the party ahead of future elections.

Taiwo, who hails from Akure North Local Government, further urged the minister to take urgent steps to reposition the group by reviewing its leadership and ensuring its objectives align with the broader interest of the APC in Ondo State. According to him, genuine support for President Tinubu should be built around collaboration with the party leadership under the governor, rather than attacks that could fuel rancor.

He commended Tunji-Ojo for his outstanding performance at the Ministry of Interior but advised him not to allow himself to be misled by individuals who, in his words, were pursuing “ulterior motives” under the guise of political mobilization.

The letter reads:

OPEN LETTER TO THE HONOURABLE MINISTER OF INTERIOR, HON. BUNMI TUNJI-OJO

“I sincerely use this medium to commend you for the timely and innovative ideas you brought into the ministry you oversee for the good people of our dear great nation, Nigeria. You have done exceptionally well in the Ministry of Interior due to the enabling environment created for you by the administration of our visionary president, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, GCFR. I therefore commend both of you for the job well done while we expect you to do more.

“My dear brother and friend, have you noticed recently that you are funding discord and disunity in Ondo State by allowing some political jobbers to oversee so-called Support Groups that look for every opportunity to discredit and disrespect the Executive Governor of your state?

“Are you funding the so-called Grassroots Mobilization for Tinubu (GMT) to insult the Governor who is of the same party and, invariably, the Leader of the party in the State? Is insulting the leader of the party Mr. President wants to use for his second-term ambition a marketing or a mis-marketing strategy? Why are you allowing the unrepentant persecutors of Lucky Ayedatiwa by giving them a platform to continue their persecution?

“Did you ever notice that your Director General of GMT, Hon. Saka Yusuf Ogunleye, was on air hurling abuses at the then Deputy Governor of the state in September 2023, when he got the news that Aketi was being brought back into the state? Why are you encouraging Hon. Saka Yusuf Ogunleye and his likes, who failed to secure appointments in the administration of Aiyedatiwa, as GMT members, funding them and supporting them with security details to fight someone whom God is always with?

“Have you ever sat down to learn from Mr. President, your direct boss? Was this the way our dear Tinubu insulted party leaders when it was vividly visible they were working against him? Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu, with others, created a platform, funded it, and worked vigorously for the candidates of the party all over the country. When those he funded sidelined him in governance, did he form a support group to discredit them? He even worked assiduously for their second term before he began to work for his own ambition to become the president in that same party. He had ample time to recruit people to discredit state and national leaders of the party when it was evident that they were working against his ambition. He never did so but focused on getting victory, and God gave him victory eventually.

“My dear brother, what on earth would have happened that you allowed political jobbers to deceive you into funding them for their own ulterior motives? Why do you keep funding those who have decided to disdain the present Executive Governor of your state because Aketi, his boss, openly declared before the whole world that he would want Ayedatiwa to succeed him because he (Ayedatiwa) had been consistently loyal? These people you fund and have given a platform, using President Tinubu’s name to create and spread discord in the state, never supported the President’s ambition in his first term—except they had been economical with the truth. One of the reasons they disdained Ayedatiwa then was his support for Tinubu during his first-term presidential aspiration.

“Because of lack of coordination due to Aketi’s health then, his cabinet members and loyalists chose different aspirants to support, and it was only Ayedatiwa and a few others that chose to support Tinubu in his first-term aspiration because he categorically told his (Ayedatiwa’s) loyalists to work for the aspiration of Mr. President then.

“In my own right thinking, and I stand to be corrected, whatever support group wishes and is willing to support the second-term ambition of our dear President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should strive to work with the leaders of the party in the state under the supervision of the Governor of Ondo State, who has openly declared his support several times on every occasion for the second-term ambition of Mr. President.

“My Hon. Minister of Interior, I am from the same local government with your Director General of Grassroots Mobilization for Tinubu (GMT), and it is very unfortunate you never did your thorough background work before appointing him and giving him security details to be working against the leaders of the party in the state.

“Let me use this medium to tell you that Hon. Saka Yusuf Ogunleye cannot win anyone to his side, let alone convincing anyone to support you or Mr. President, for he does not have a good name for himself. He cannot confidently walk around his street without police orderly even when he was a serving commissioner, for fear of being attacked by people of his community. Ask him to point to his achievements and contributions to the development of his community and other communities in Akure North throughout his time in power. Is it the people whose wives he has slept with in the communities that would listen to him or be happy to pitch their tents with him? He never supports a female politician without sleeping with her, neither does he support a viable candidate except stooges that he can lead by the nose. There is evidence of this if you wish to dig deeper.

“In his recent media rants, he alleged that Mrs. Tomisin Edu-Falade is Mr. Governor’s preferred aspirant, and that one Hon. Babateye is her coordinator in Ward 4, Akure North. This aspirant he alleged to have been favored by Mr. Governor had been working and walking round the federal constituency she wishes to represent, paying her dues. She has given scholarships, distributed relief materials and palliatives, and visited less-privileged homes and party leaders in the constituency. All these, Saka Yusuf Ogunleye never did throughout his time as commissioner representing Akure North.

“Which of the aspirants for House of Representatives is not seeking the support of Mr. Governor? Saka’s tools have always remained blackmail, scandals, lies, and physical attacks. It was divine intervention that saved Hon. Engr. Leye Akinola from him when he sent members of the drivers’ union to attack him during the congress in 2018. The evidence is also there if you care to know.

“Hon. Engr. Leye Akinola had challenged him to a political walk through his ward in Obaile when he was commissioner, to know who controlled the grassroots, which he refused. I am also using this opportunity to ask you to tell him to go ahead with the political challenge walk in his ward between him and Hon. Engr. Leye Akinola, the present Commissioner for Agriculture and Forestry. If he can bring out more members of the party in the ward than the commissioner, then he should be regarded as a great grassroots mobilizer indeed.

“If indeed you want GMT to make an impact for Mr. President’s second-term ambition, graciously remove Hon. Saka Yusuf Ogunleye as the DG and clearly state the objectives of the support group rather than using it to destabilize the party Mr. President wants to use in the state.

“Hon. Minister, do not allow political jobbers and sworn enemies of Ayedatiwa, despite him extending olive hands to them even when he was deputy governor, to use your resources and machinery to create discord and rancor in the party and in the state at large using GMT to vent their personal anger because they failed to secure appointments in Ayedatiwa’s administration.

“Wishing you wisdom and sound health to be a better ambassador of Ondo State and to do more exploits as the Minister of Interior of our great country Nigeria.

“God bless you.

God bless Ondo State of Nigeria.

And God bless Nigeria our great Nation.”

E-Signed:

Sunday Taiwo (Hon. Digestive), writes from Ward 11, Akure North Local Government.