The All Progressives Congress, APC, in Osun State has reacted to the state government’s decision to set up a Cybercrime Action Committee.
The state government through a statement by Kolapo Alimi, the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment had stated that the step became necessary to sanitise the governance space and ensure that politicking and governance took place under an atmosphere of responsibility, decency and honesty.
The development comes in the wake of a social media war between the supporters of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party and the opposition All Progressives Congress on issues relating to governance.
Reacting to the development, Osun APC Chairman, Tajudeen Lawal, in a statement, described it as a ploy to muzzle the opposition and subsequently turn the governor into a dictator.
Lawal also said the committee was an afterthought aimed at planting fears in the minds of patriotic citizens who queried Adeleke’s alleged award of N50bn public road contracts to unqualified companies.
He declared that Osun APC would be battle-ready to confront and resist, through legal means, all draconian policies fashioned to repress the voice of the opposition in the state.
In his words, “It defies logic that a governor who has been shielding from arrest his chief propagandist, who is being wanted by the DSS for allegedly planting fake news about the son of the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Mr Femi Oyetola, is the one touting to curb cyber bullying.
“The issue is that Governor Adeleke is under pressure to defend his corruption-friendly government, which has become a butt of jokes among discerning minds in the state.
“If not, why is this repressive move coming up at this time when our party took him headlong on the shady deals that bedevilled the award of his purported multi-billion road/flyover contracts?
“We want to assure Governor Adeleke that no matter his antics, we, as a party, would not surrender our inalienable rights to act to type as a credible opposition to his reactionary, clueless and corrupt government, in the overall interest of the people of the state.”