The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Oyo state, Seyi Makinde, was on Wednesday stopped from participating in a live political interview programme with Parrot 101.1. FM, Ogbomoso. The radio station reportedly belongs to a former governor of the state, Adebayo Alao-Akala.
Makinde was said to have left Ibadan as early as 8am to honour the programme billed to commence by 11am but the station hurriedly shut doors against him upon arrival, saying that “the management had put the programme on hold.’
Alao-Akala had who recently pitched his tent with the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, after a parley he reportedly had with the APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
Speaking to Makinde, the General Manager of the station, Mr Ademola Adeniyi, said he received the “message from the administration department who invited Makinde and his APC counterpart, Adelabu.”
The PDP governorship candidate later issued a statement, decrying the last-minute stoppage of a live interview programme, which he claimed he paid for.
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According to a statement from his campaign organisation, Makinde had booked and paid for the one-hour slot, 48 hours in advance and came to Ogbomoso for the programme only to be turned back at the gate with the excuse that the slot had been allocated to his rival, Mr Bayo Adelabu, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress.
Makinde lamented that apart from being unconstitutional, it was democratically repugnant for anyone to deny the other the right of reply.
He added that Akala was trying to prevent him from revealing his main reason why he joined the APC, a move that had diminished his political rating significantly.
“You can bar me from your radio station, but you cannot debar me from the Government House if it is the wish of the Lord and the people,” Makinde said.
He eventually went to Ajilete FM, also in Ogbomoso where he fielded questions in a live interview programme of the station.
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