Another political crisis may be brewing in Oyo State
as the House of Assembly candidates on the platform of the African Democratic
Congress (ADC) in the 2019 general election yesterday accused the state Governor,
Seyi Makinde, of not fulfilling any of the agreements reached with them in
2019.
The candidates made the revelation on Tuesday evening
while addressing journalists at a press conference held at the Nigeria Union of
Journalists (NUJ) Secretariat in Ibadan.
Present at the conference were Mr. Gaphar Ojetola
(Ibadan North Constituency 1), who was the spokesperson; Tolani Adigun Tajudeen
(Ibadan South West Constituency 1), Habeeb Idowu Balogun (Ibadan South West
Constituency 2), Paul Alagbe (Ogbomoso North) and Akindipe Abiodun Akinsunbo
(Ibadan North West).
There was an agreement between the political
gladiators and political parties that worked for the success of Makinde during
the gubernatorial election, it was learnt.
The climax of the agreements was when a former
Governor of the state, Senator Rasheed Ladoja, raised the hand of Makinde as
the candidate to support in the March 9, 2019, gubernatorial election.
Ladoja prevailed on the gubernatorial candidate of
ADC, Senator Olufemi Lanlehin; Sharafadeen Alli of Zenith Labour Party (ZLP),
and Chief Bolaji Ayorinde of Social Democratic Party (SDP) among other
political gladiators to jettison their ambitions with an appeal to them to
support Makinde in the election.
But, the House of Assembly candidates, who were also
part of the agreements, yesterday insisted that Makinde is yet to fulfill the
agreements reached with them nine months after his inauguration, stating that
they had sacrificed so much than to be abandoned, used and dumped, ignored or
treated in that manner.
According to Ojetola, "It is important to note
that the alliance on March 2, 2019, was the master stroke that changed the
calculus of the political landscape in Oyo State which gave the four parties
the deserving victory that threw up Seyi Mankinde as the Oyo State governor.
"There were terms of agreements to the alliance
of March 2, 2019, with a sharing formula of political appointments across
boards, all the coalition parties agreed to the terms without any reservation.
"As the House of Assembly candidates of the ADC,
which election ran concurrently with that of the governorship elections, we
thus became eventually the direct casualties and sacrificial lambs of the
alliance as all the 32 seats of the House of Assembly went along the coalition
governorship candidacy of Makinde.
"It is important to stress that we did not
request for and were not given any financial compensation before consenting to
the terms of the alliance as we were repeatedly assured that we shall be the
first consideration for political appointments. These assurances were also
reemphasised with us by the governor during his Thank You visit to Senator
Lanlehin residence.
"We regret to announce that almost nine months
into this government, Makinde has not fulfilled any of the agreement reached
with our principal, Senator Lanlehin. The governor as a man of honour, should
as a matter of importance and urgency redeem his promises according to the
terms of agreement with Lanlehin.
"The body language of the governor is that of
abandonment to fulfilling his own part of the agreement despite that we have
staked everything possible to his electoral victory at the polls. The victory
was our joint efforts and the terms of the promises should be fulfilled without
further delay. We have sacrificed so much to be abandoned, used and dumped,
ignored or treated in this manner. We should be setting good precedence as we
did in the last election for other states to follow in similar circumstances.”
He added that "on several occasions, we have
contacted the governor. Our leader has made several attempts to call and reach
him. I can't tell you the number of times Lanlehin has made attempt to reach
him. We waited too long."
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