Kemi Olaitan in Ibadan
The Oyo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday challenged the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to either make public the identity of anyone in illegal possession of government property among the officials who served in the immediate past administration of Governor Abiola Ajimobi or stop spending available resources on cheap blackmail.
The state Governor, Seyi Makinde’s administration had lamented that some government officials who served with Ajimobi carted away vehicles and other unspecified properties of the state government before it took over the government on May 29, 2019.
But state APC in a statement issued by the Assistant Publicity Secretary, Prince Ayobami Adejumo, said the noise about the issue of vehicles allegedly taken away by unnamed persons was a clear indication that the PDP was not prepared for the serious business of governance in the state.
According to him, “They were desperate for power, and now that they have it, they do not know what to do with it. How can a serious party be comfortable with the fact that a governor it sponsored into power cannot muster a significant action plan or blueprint but choose to dwell on mundane issues four weeks after inauguration without any sign of promise to deliver?
“As concerned stakeholders, we have done our investigation and found out that none of our members went away with official vehicles or any government property illegally as Makinde and his party want the public to believe.
“Therefore, we challenge the present administration or any of its sympathisers to name all those they established to be in possession of the said items and initiate appropriate measures to recovery same from them.
“But if all the present administration and the PDP would prefer to do is to wage war against Ajimobi and others who served the state meritoriously between 2011 and 2019, we wish them good luck.”
The party further urged Makinde “to resist every instinct or pressure capable of causing unrest in the state especially as it concerned sponsorship of anarchy and confusion at the local government area level. Again, the state should not be in the news for any wrong reason because a governor must satisfy himself or his party men.
“The current officials at the local council are a product of legitimacy and since the governor has agreed to edge them out after his first self-help attempt failed, he should submit himself wholly to the court process without any overt or covert effort to circumvent democracy and the rule of law.
“We say no to intimidation of elected council chairmen and councillors by the governor or any of his men who are desperate to feast on the resources of local government councils as done in the past. The Appeal Court has picked July 5, 2019, for hearing of the case brought before it by the governor with a caveat that the status quo must be maintained. What this means is that elected officials should not be prevented from functioning in their capacities, and we expect the PDP government to be aware of this.”
