In a suit filed against Comrade Victor Ashaolu by Prince Dele Odule,his main opponent at the February,2010,national election of the Association of National Theater Arts Practitioners,ANTP,that was heard recently in an Ibadan High Court, the court summarily ordered Comrade Ashaolu and any other person to stop parading himself as the president of the association till the determination of the case that is before Justice Bolaji Yusuf of Court 4.
The order, we gathered, has been source of jubilation in the camp of Prince Dele Odule and they have been celebrating since the judge gave the order.
Their joy stem from the fact that since the September,2010, kangaroo election that was held in Ilorin by the Ashaolu faction of the association which had only Ashaolu as the contestant and of course the winner, Comrade Victor Ashaolu has been parading himself as the president of the association.
He and his followers have been disturbing the smooth running of the association despite the fact that they are in the minority.
An insider in the Lagos State chapter where Ashaolu belongs informed that his supporters have taken the Lagos State Chapter Governor of the association to court and they are still in court.
We also learnt that in the seven states of the federation where the association has chapters,Comrade Ashaolu is at loggerheads with the state governors as he has reportedly written petitions against them to the SSS and police,alleging that they were threatening his life.
At times,the insiders reports,there are situations where he took such state governors to court for not supporting and recognizing his presidency.
This is the case with the Kwara and Lagos State,we hear that Ashaolu set up a caretaker committee to run the affairs of the state chapter since,according to him,the state is yet to have a governor and this has seen the Lagos State Chapter of ANTP having two separate bodies and holding separate meetings.
One of the factions is headed by Alhaji Akeem Alimi,otherwise known as Ajala Jalingo who is the re-elected governor of the state chapter.
His election is being challenged in court by Alogbon,a staunch supporter of Comrade Victor Ashaolu and one of those who believe Ashaolu should be the national president of the body.
In the Kwara State case,we gather that Ashaolu got angry with the governor for not allowing him to use the state capital,Ilorin,for his proposed national congress of the association and as such,Ashaolu’s supporters also told the governor that since he,Dr. Olorunfemi Abdulmalik does not recognize Ashaolu as the president of ANTP,then they,(Ashaolu’s supporters) would also not recognize the governor.
As it is, there is now calm in the body as the court has told all those who laid claim to the position of president that they should stop parading themselves pending the determination of the case.
In a phone chat,Dele odule confirm the story and told us that the court has restrained not only Comrade Victor Ashaolu from parading himself as the president of ANTP but also anyone else doing so till the court determines the matter.
He went on to say that Com. Ashaolu is known to always violate court rulings without anyone calling him to order and hopes he will adhere to the court injunction this time around.
