The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the South-West has described claim by the Action Congress of Nigeria, (ACN) that its National Chairman,Chief Bisi Akande was a political prisoner as ridiculous and laughable, saying; “It is hypocrisy taken too far for someone who was convicted and jailed for fraud by a duly constituted Tribunal to be regarded as a political prisoner.”
The party said; “as far as the law is concerned, Chief Bisi Akande is an ex-convict, having been duly convicted and was only released from prison and not granted state pardon.”
National Publicity Secretary of the ACN, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, had said in a statement in Abuja on Thursday that “any attempt to label Chief Akande an ex-convict in a pejorative sense will be an exercise in futility, because he was neither convicted for abuse of office nor for any corruption-related offence by a duly constituted court.’’
Curiously, the party (ACN) was silent on the PDP’s claim that the House of Representatives Minority Leader, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila was also an ex-convict, having been convicted for professional misconduct by the Supreme Court of Georgia, United States of America in 2006 for making away with his client’s $25,000 in 2003.
In a statement issued today, PDP Zonal Publicity Secretary, Hon. Kayode Babade said; “Instead of trying to play with words, the ACN should tell Nigerians why the same Special Military Tribunal set up by the General Mohammadu Buhari regime that jailed Chief Bisi Akande for fraud freed people like late Chief Adekunle Ajasin and Alhaji Lateef Jakande?”
It also berated the ACN Spokesperson, Lai Mohammed for comparing Akande’s conviction and imprisonment with that of the global icon, Nelson Mandela, saying; “Even a deranged mind knows what Mandela was jailed for and it was not for using public money to fund political party.
“It is therefore an insult for anyone to compare the imprisonment of someone that was convicted for fraud with that of Mandela, who was jailed for his struggle to free South-Africa from slavery.”
Speaking further, Babade said; “It is a fact that the military government of Buhari, the same man the ACN people are working an alliance with, tried some public office holders in 1984 for misappropriation of public funds. Many of those tried were freed because they were not found guilty while those that were found guilty were jailed.
“Among those that were found guilty of fraud and jailed was Chief Bisi Akande and he was only released from prison by the General Ibrahim Babangida regime. He was not granted state pardon. The records are there!
“So what do you call such a person other than ex-convict?”
The PDP, which also maintained that ACN is a party of wolves who go about in sheep’s clothing, added that; “Nigerians know who has acquired almost all Lagos State landed properties, including a Local Government Secretariat and can no longer be fooled by the ACN holier than the Pope posture.”
