By Tayo Alabi
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Oyo State chapter and Sheikh Muhydeen Ajani Bello have locked horns on comments credited to the cleric over the present PDP government under Governor Seyi Makinde.
The cleric had delivered Ramadan lecture, but the PDP has described his comments as ‘uncharitable and unfair.’
Indeed, the party said his comments were inspired by the Tafseer royalty he allegedly received from organizers of the event where he made the comments, noting that everything the cleric said against the present administration was against the true teachings of Islam, the spirit of Ramadan.
PDP in a statement on Thursday, by the party’s spokesperson in the state, Engr. Akeem Olatunji, said the present rapid infrastructural developments being undertaken by Governor Seyi Makinde’s administration are very visible, even for the blind to see.
The statement recalled that the renowned Islamic preacher, while delivering a sermon at the first annual Abiola Ajimobi Ramadan lecture, stated that since the late former Governor Ajimobi left the saddle of governance, there has been no visible development in the state since the new government took over the reins of governance.
PDP, further lambasted the Islamic scholar, saying his sermon at the event was inspired by “royalty.”
“Our attention as a party has been drawn to some very uncharitable, unsubstantiated, unfair, and financially inspired sermon credited to Sheikh Muhydeen Ajani Bello at the annual Abiola Ajimobi memorial Ramadan lecture which held on Wednesday 14th April in Ibadan.”
“We ordinarily would not have given a reply a thought out of respect for the spirit of the holy month of Ramadan but we chose to put records in proper perspective by reacting to the commercial sermon so as to avoid the cleric creating wrong impressions in the minds of our beloved Muslim brothers based on the sensitiveness of the commercial sermon and its consumption.”
“First of all, considering the Holy month of Ramadan in which Muslims all over the world are humbly observing fasting, any true cleric is charged with the duty of spreading the gospel of love, peace, and the truth will intensify sermons on lifting the already down spirits of Nigerians who have already gone through a lot under the present APC led federal government, so much that the call to divide Nigeria by some sections of the country reached its record peak.”
“The good people of Oyo State who had perhaps expected to hear a soul-lifting sermon from the cleric would by now be left in serious disappointment because the present government which the Sheikh Bello tried fruitlessly to discredit was enthroned by the people who rejected APC in its entirety by not only throwing out their government and with the various heart-rending activities of herdsmen on farmers and bandits on the Nigeria people, it’s preposterous that Sheikh Muhydeen Bello has failed to call out the non-performing President Muhammadu Buhari led Federal Government but condemning instead of praising a super performer like Governor Seyi Makinde.”
“Government is indeed continuum and as much as we are constrained to abstain from speaking at all about the dead we are compelled to make certain clarifications for the purpose of education and a better understanding of how other western countries develop.” the statement read in part.
