BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN, POLITICAL EDITOR
In a sharp reaction Tuesday to the ACN demand for her group’s withdrawal from the polls, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin said: “In twenty four hours, Alhaji Mohammed has issued two statements against us repeating the same baseless and puerile allegations against our organization .

“In what has become a special forte of Alhaji Mohammed, one set of rules for ACN and a different one for others, the ACN spokesman’s  only allegation against Women Arise is that the group cannot be independent because the hubby of the president has expressed his personal opinion.”

“Yet Lai Mohammed and his party insist that the volume of calls himself and other leaders of his party had with Justice Salami who was giving judgments in ACN favour had no relationships.”

“It is more absurd that he in one breath wants CODER which was formed and is being funded by the ACN leader accredited and in another asks for de-accreditation of Women Arise with no evidence of link to any political party.”

“And for a man who has served more of a political serf to his former friend in the last 14 years, it may be that the only place left for him to exercise authority bordering on dictatorship is over his wife!”

“As to the non-question of Mohammed if Women Arise was hired to participate in any protest, our response is that we cannot be bought with all the illicit funds his group is using to destroy all institutions.”

“The group participated freely in the first protest on Salami when it thought that it was an altruistic cause but declined in a second protest having gotten the full facts of the unholy alliance.”

“Perhaps it is Mohammed and his people who should explain why they were “hiring” people to protest if they had no more than ordinary relationship with Salami.”