Some chieftains of Oyo State chapter of All Progressives Congress (APC) have urged Chief Niyi Akintola (SAN), who contested in the party’s primary for the 2023 governorship election but lost to Senator Teslim Folarin, to leave them out of whatever battles he is waging.

They also enjoined the legal luminary to manage his anger and then place the interest of the party above his and Folarin’s ambition.

One of the chieftains and Chairman of Oyo Reconciliation Committee, Senator Femi Lanlehin, in a statement while reacting to the interview granted an Ibadan-based radio station by Akintola, wherein the lawyer gave accounts of discussions between them, in attempts to justify some assertions he (Akintola) made on the programme, contented that all Akintola needed to do was to maintain whatever position he believes in, without necessarily dropping the names of others to lend credence to his position.

Lanlehin said all what Akintola said on the programme about him were not facts.

The statement reads: “I have been inundated with calls from friends, supporters, loyalists and all those interested in the affairs of our great party, the APC, seeking clarification on some issues raised in an interview granted by Chief Niyi Akintola, wherein he made some statements regarding our interaction on the situation of our party, especially regarding my assignment as head of the reconciliation committee.

“While I am a bit reluctant to engage him in a series of back and forth as that’s not really my style, I, after deep introspection, believe I should, for the sake of posterity, and for the education of members of the public, to whom I owe the truth, as a distinguished progressive tell the truth.

“Truth is, I deliberately avoided reaching out to Chief Akintola, as I did with nearly all of our party’s governorship aspirants to avoid being misrepresented.

“Unfortunately, all I feared have eventually happened, as Chief Akintola has succeeded in distorting all we discussed to suit his private motives, and probably confuse the unsuspecting public.

“For the avoidance of doubt, Chief Akintola was the one who called me towards the end of our committee’s assignment, and the kernel of our discussion was my appeal to him to vent his misgivings, after which I sued for peace and requested for his suggestions on how to move our great party forward.”

“At no time did I tell him of any bad outing in any part of the state, and I make bold to say that our committee’s engagements in all the seven zones of the state were very successful. Not only did party leaders and members turn out in large numbers, they also laid bare their grievances, and put forward useful suggestions on the way forward.”