July 10, (THEWILL) – Respite has come for socialite and night club entrepreneur, Shina Peller. The politician, who dumped the ruling All Progressives Congress for losing the ticket for Oyo North Senatorial district, has finally secured the same ticket on the platform of Accord Party.
Shina’s journey to securing the ticket was dramatic, no doubt. Most people had expected him to return to the House of Representatives for a second term, but Shina didn’t. He claimed that he opted to run for a senatorial seat to satisfy the overall benefits of his constituency. He said he wanted to give room to the people of Kajola and Iwajowa Local Government Areas to produce a federal representative in the constituency as they haven’t presented a representative for almost 16 years. So, he couldn’t run for a second term as his integrity was at stake. Instead, he opted to go for the Senate. But he got trounced at the primary by the incumbent, a two time senator, Fatai Buhari. Shina got only five votes.
He did not take his defeat lightly. He alleged that there were irregularities in the form of illegal accreditation, registration of names with no passports etc. at the primary. In simple terms, He claimed that it was a kangaroo primary that took place and conducted with the close supervision of the former Oyo State Commissioner for Works and Transport, Alhaji Wasiu Dauda Azuzu and the winner of the primary, Fatai Buhari.
Not done, Shina also claimed that there were attempts to assassinate him because he voiced out his dissatisfaction with the kangaroo election. He alleged that the assassination plot was hatched by Senator Teslim Folarin, a three time Senator and the APC governorship candidate in Oyo State. Folarin didn’t find this allegation funny especially because Shina asked for President Muhammadu Buhari’s intervention to keep him alive. Folarin threatened to sue Shina for defamation insisting that he is not an assassin and does not operate a death squad and therefore could not have sent hired killers after Shina Peller or anyone.
Eventually, Shina dumped APC, citing the undemocratic conduct of some party chieftains particularly in Oyo State, who wanted to impose their preferred candidate on the people, as his reason. He made a show of his defection when he got a camera crew to video the removal of the APC flag from his office. Now he has berthed at Accord party but at an alleged cost. The initial candidate of the party, Demola Ojo, ‘willfully’ withdrew from the race for him. Giving reasons for stepping down, he said he took the decision in the interest of the people of the zone.
Ivory Ukonu is a versatile journalist with many years of experience, with entertainment and society reporting as her area of core competence.
