‘Seun Ibukun-Oni, Abuja
Daily Courier – The House of Representatives candidate for Ife Federal Constituency, Engr Benjamin Adereti who was alleged to have forged his membership card has debunked the allegations.
Adereti who provided evidence to support his innocence maintained that the purported petition was the handiwork of the co-contestants who lost out in the race for Ife federal constituency ticket of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Refuting the forged membership card with the number :OS/FEE/11/02648 of Ilare ward 3, Polling Unit 011 of Ife Central Local Government, allegation, he provided a scanned copy of his membership card reproduced below:
Adereti in his rejoinder wrote: “The content and messages in the said petitions are laughable and beyond the imagination of a right thinking individual to affirm that my A P C membership in Ife federal constituency is doubtful.
I am a well learned person that knows his onion at any point in time and to be in politics to contest without studying the rules and regulations of my political party before venturing to aspire to be the candidate of our great party A P C in Ife federal Constituency will be a monumental error which I BENJAMIN KAYODE ADERETI will never commit. It is only a political nincompoop that will think other way.”
Confident of his innocence, Adereti added: “I am hereby emphatically saying that I am a bonafide member of our great party in Ife federal constituency with fulfilment of all requirements of the party to contest at the primary election which I won.”
Images of Benjamin Adereti at different party functions
Daily Courier reached out to some of the co-contestants fingered by Adereti as been behind the petition to get there reactions. Hon Jacob Olayera Elugbaju, who was the immediate past chairman of Ife local government not denying the allegation said: “All I am saying is that I don’t want the opposition to use Adereti’s forged membership card against the party. It is party’s interest first before personal interest. If the opposition uses it in the future against us, the party may not have a candidate. That is the only thing we are trying to do. Let our party especially at the national know what is going on. He is a very gentle man to the core, he is a nice man, he is an honest man but by the time we were doing registration he has not joined our party, that is the only thing” he said.
Dr Samuel Ibiyemi while replying to the rejoinder said: “Check the signature of Benjamin Adereti on his membership card and signature on the nomination form. Are they the same thing? In the form, he claimed Ilare Ward 3 and in the new registration card, he is now claiming Iremo Ward 2 contrary to the declaration on the form that all documents are true. See photos below:”
Adereti further clarified the misinformation on his employment with the tech giant, MTN. “Also, I was employed by MTN Nigeria in December 2007 as Regional Transmission Support Engineer after rigorous interview process that only produces the best without sentiment. I rose from level 2 engineer to management position base on exceptional performance among my peers and my tenacity to be the best in my chosen career. I was trained in various technologies and management skill in the best institutions in America and Europe.
“I was elected to represent my colleagues as a junior staff in Employee Council. I became the National Secretary of MTN Employee Multipurpose Cooperative Society where I served for two consecutive terms. As a result of my great exploits and achievements, I was elected to serve as the president of our Staff Cooperative for another two terms. I remain an employee of this great company and I will continue to deliver on my key performance indicators and lead my team in MTN to deliver business objectives” he further said.
He challenged anyone in doubt of his employment status to approach MTN human resource department for clarification. “I’m willing to publish such response in at least three national daily newspapers” Adereti submitted.
The Ife federal constituency house of representatives candidate encouraged party faithfuls including those who won and lost at the last primary election to come together and forge ahead with the common goal of the party. “Let’s put the primary election behind us and focus on the re-election of our amiable Governor, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola” he concluded.
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