[size=16pt] Blood oath scandal: Ogun lawmaker admits - Says gov forced him[/size] - No, I’m not involved - Daniel

Soji-Eze Fagbemi, Abuja - 30.06.2009

A member of the Ogun State House of Assembly, Honourable Wale Alausa, who was alleged to have sworn to an oath at a shrine in Ijebu-Igbo, on Monday, admitted the claim, but said that he did it for Governor Gbenga Daniel.

Moreover, he said the oath taking was done out of intimidation and threat to life and confessed that he was indeed the one in the photographs published in a national newspaper on Monday.

Alausa, who represents Ijebu-Ode State Constituency in the House, in a telephone interview with the Nigerian Tribune in Abeokuta, said that the oath was done at the private residence of Governor Daniel in Ijebu-Ode with the support of some prominent traditional rulers in the land.

The embattled lawmaker, who is one of the Group-15 that is opposed to the governor, added that there was so much pressure on him, including assassination attempts on his nephews and his immediate family members.

He also said that members of the Group-11 took the same oath and that their photographs were in the custody of Governor Daniel. According to him, “I took the oath. I was harassed, intimidated and forced to take the oath. When the pressure was too much, prominent traditional rulers and prominent people also knew about it. They put pressure on me through my father.

“There was an assassination attempt. There was a kidnapping attempt on my nephews, children of my younger brother. It was such a terrible thing. I could not do otherwise because there was real threat to my life.
“There were several gun shots in front of my father’s house in Ijebu-Ode, Alhaji Agboola Alausa, who is the Ogun East senatorial Chairman (of the PDP).

“The photograph was taken in Daniel’s toilet and bathroom, but the other photograph was super imposed. I did not take any photograph outside the house.

“I took the oath on the day Titi Oseni was impeached as Speaker, that was why I was not at plenary session that day?”“I was deceived,” he said. Meanwhile, the Ogun State Governor, Chief Gbenga Daniel, has denied claims by Hon. Alausa, that the administration of oath on his person was done at his private residence in Ijebu-Ode.

Daniel said this through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Adegbenro Adebanjo, that the claim was absolute falsehood, saying it was a mere fiction.

According to him, “There was nothing like that. It is absolute falsehood. The governor does not engage himself in odious practice, so those involved should come out clean, instead of mis-informing the public.

“His claim is mere clutching at straw. This is a fiction of the highest order. We dissociate ourselves from this claim.”

Nude pictures: Publish more if you have any
By Moshood Adebayo, Abeokuta
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Photo: The Sun Publishing
More Stories on This Section

The leadership of the Ogun State House of Assembly has dared Ogun State Governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, who they identified as the sole proprietor of the Compass Newspaper that published an obscene picture of one of them to go ahead and publish more.

The newspaper last Monday published a nude picture of Hon. Wale Alausa where it was alleged that the member representing Ijebu-Ode State Constituency was involved in blood oath.

The newspaper also threatened to publish more of such messy pictures about the lawmakers who appeared to be against Governor Daniel’s administration in its subsequent editions.

Addressing a press conference at the Committee Room on Tuesday after a solidarity rally with Alausa who had earlier addressed a press conference in Lagos, the Speaker of the House, Hon. Tunji Egbetokun, described the development as unfortunate, messy and stinking.
“He (Daniel) caused the photograph to be published because he’s the owner of the paper. Let him publish other ones if he has them. The whole things is unfortunate, messy and stinking which I know he would be regretting by now.

“How could you publish such a photograph of a honourable member from the same party with you in your newspaper? He had acted on a bad advice of some people who surround him.
“Let him go ahead to publish more, but I know he does not have the pictures of any one of us here. If he has my own, let him publish it through all manners of publication anywhere and I can assure him I will not go to court.

“Why are they threatening us that they have more of such pictures. They did not tell us they had Hon. Alausa’s picture before they did what they did. Let me tell you if they had any more of such pictures, they would have posted that of Hon. Remi Hassan because he’s a pastor. That would have been more marketable for them than anybody else.”

Egbetokun, who was the immediate past secretary to the Obafemi-Owode Local Government also admitted that he once took oath of allegiance at the instance of Governor Daniel before the 2007 election.
“Yes, I once took oath of allegiance to Governor Daniel, that was during the 2007 election but I was not naked. It was right at his house in Sagamu.”

Egbetokun, who spoke in the presence of the G.15 member excluding Alausa, who though was within the Assembly complex but was attending to some people from his constituency listed some of the names of those that took the oath with him. Egbetokun, who said the House would investigate and take proper action on the Alausa’s saga also alleged that 80 percent of office holders are spiritualists.

Meanwhile, elders of the ruling Peopls Democratic Party (PDP) in Imeko-Afon Local Government Area of the state have described the allegation by Alausa as “mother of all deceptions”.
The Chairman of the forum, Chief Sina Adejobi described Alausa as a devilish man. “His admission that the photograph published in Monday’s edition of Nigerian Compass where he appeared naked while taking the blood oath had shown that he belongs to the kingdom of darkness. He should kneel down before God and pray for forgiveness otherwise, the wrath of God will be kindled upon him.”


http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2009/july/01/national-01-07-2009-04.htm

Gov Daniel treacherous –Alausa
By RAZAQ BAMIDELE and WILLY EYA
Wednesday, July 1, 2009

The controversy over blood oath taking in Ogun State deepened on Tuesday as the embattled lawmaker Wale Alausa alleged that virtually all elected officers were compelled to take allegiance oath to support Governor Gbenga Daniel. The lawmaker, flanked by his colleagues including the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Tunji Egbetokun made the allegation at a press conference in Lagos.

Alausa whose nude picture was taken while taking blood oath was published in the media re-emphasised before journalists that Governor Daniel was the mastermind of the fetish act, which according to him, was being manipulated to blackmail him.

“I was used, dumped and abused by the same man that is now trying to pin a label of a fetish oath taker on me,” he said, describing Daniel as a treacherous individual. The lawmaker nearly broke down in tears while relating the harrowing experience he allegedly went through in the hands of the state governor.

“When the story about the oath-taking first came out, my first instinct was to hide myself given the shame and ridicule that the Governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, is trying to put my family to. But following spiritual advice to that effect, I have no choice but to continue with what my conscience had earlier asked me to do, struggle for justice on behalf of my immediate constituency in Ijebu Ode, and Ogun State citizens in general.

“Friends, colleagues and people that I don’t even know have been calling me all kinds of names with abuses for taking a fetish oath. Some even went as far as to say I am a desperate politician who wants to remain in office to enjoy the spoils of politics by all means necessary. To such people, I say, forgive me. I am sorry. But you also need to understand where I am coming from and why I did what was reported by Otunba Gbenga Daniel’s newspaper in a manipulative way. I was used, dumped and abused by the same man that is now trying to pin a label of a fetish oath-taker on me.

“As a Yoruba, and an Ijebu for that matter, I am not an Omo Ale (bastard). I challenge you journalists here and those of your colleagues in Ogun State to go back and check my past activities as a member of the Ogun State House of Assembly. I was a very vibrant member of the Group of 15 credible legislators who declared through our removal of Hon. Titilayo Oseni as Speaker last year that we’ve had enough of civilian dictatorship in Ogun State. We stood our ground despite physical and spiritual threats to our lives. We were called names. They even said we took money from the former Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, to effect Oseni’s removal. But to God be the glory that the people of Ogun State and Nigerians interested in the affairs of our state have seen through that falsehood.

“Now, back to the issue of Omo Ale. It may surprise you to know that my father is the Chairman of the Ogun East Senatorial District of the Peoples Democratic (PDP). He is a well-respected title-holder as Otun Balogun of Ijebuland. Following our action against Oseni last year, pressures were mounted on my father to prevail on me to withdraw my support for the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Tunji Egbetokun. My father knows he has a principled son. His response to Otunba Gbenga Daniel each time such pressure came was that his son is an adult with a family of his own, who is able to take decisions without recourse to him.

However, when the pressures on my father became too much, he became the butt of jokes in party circles. It was as if he could not control his son. Suddenly, a non-existent Ogun East Elders Council was formed by Otunba Gbenga Daniel to usurp the functions of the constitutionally recognised Ogun East Senatorial District Executive headed by my father. Daddy was thoroughly disgraced wherever he went in the state by agents of Otunba Gbenga Daniel. Nevertheless, he did not budge. He left me to decide what is best for my constituency without putting any pressure on me. But the involvement of our royal father, (names withheld) by Otunba Gbenga Daniel, I believe, made my father bent a rule which he imbibed in us from childhood that, once we believe in something we should face it squarely without fear of anyone except Almighty Allah (SWT).

“You may want to check past editions of your newspapers to confirm what I am about to say. Somewhere along the line, the G-15 became G-14. This was celebrated in Otunba Gbenga Daniel’s newspaper as well as others without mentioning my name. But I hereby confess I was the one who left the group to pledge allegiance to the Governor following the untold pressure on my dad, especially the need to respect our royal father. The condition of pledging allegiance to Otunba Gbenga Daniel was humiliating, but before the Almighty Allah who created me, I stuck to my guns that unless he also took the same oath, I will refuse to do so.

“You might then wonder how the photograph came about. Long before then, especially before the 2007 elections shortly after the party primaries, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, had ensured that most, if not all those seeking elective offices took the oath of allegiance to him. You can ask your colleagues in Ogun State, if they are honest, they will also tell you that there is no Council Chairman that did not take the oath before their elections. But at that time, they know my background and they know such a thing could not be forced on me because the role I’ll play in the election will even be more than all of them combined together. So, I was left alone. But it was my dad they believed will hold me anytime they want.

“One thing I thank God for in all of these is that the confidence of my colleagues which I betrayed because I do not want to be labelled an Omo Ale has been restored by God Himself. Because how can one explain Otunba Gbenga Daniel’s release of a photograph he took deceitfully? I know he has been angry because he expected I’ll return to the G-15 and begin passing details of our meeting to him. But I refused. The oath I took was to the effect that I will not be among those who will impeach him from office.

It did not include spying on my colleagues. Part of the argument was that as an Ijebu, I should not allow the Egba to disgrace our son, Otunba Gbenga Daniel. I agreed after that pressure from my dad. But it was a reluctant decision, which I made as a dutiful Yoruba son to a father who has been everything to me.”
Speaking further at the press conference, Alausa who represents Ijebu Ode state constituency alleged that Governor Daniel ensured that elected officers take the oath of allegiance shortly after primaries of the People Democratic Party (PDP) before the last election in the state.

Alausa maintained that he was not alone and gave graphic details of how the state governor subjected the assembly members and other elected officers to take oath before the last general election in the state.