Ololade Adeyanju/
A leading figure in the administration of late Governor Abiola Ajimobi in Oyo State, Prof. Adeolu Akande, has disclosed how he (Ajimobi) passed over the chance to become governor after the 2007 election by refusing to pledge N18 billion of the state’s resources to some godfathers.
The revelation by Akande, who was Chief of Staff to Ajimobi between June 2011 and September 2013, is contained in a tribute he wrote for his former boss, published in the media today.
Ajimobi had contested the Oyo State governorship election in 2007 and came second to former Governor Alao Akala, but believing that he was the true winner of the election, he launched multi-poronged attempt to reclaim the mandate.
According to Akande, an unnamed power broker offered to help Ajimobi actualise his bid of upturning the result and reclaiming the Oyo State governorship seat on the condition that he would pledge N1.5 billion from the monthly federal allocation to the state for one year.
Akande, who said he was at present at meeting held at the power broker’s Asokoro residence, admitted that there was no doubt that the individual had the capacity to deliver on his promise.
However, he said the late Ajimobi bluntly refused to commit to such an agreement, even to chargin of some his associates who were present.
Akande wrote, “But it was about 2009 that we started a close relationship. He was involved in efforts at reclaiming the mantle of leadership in Oyo State on the strength of the 2007 gubernatorial election in which he was announced as runner-up but which he insisted he won.
“We met virtually every night in Abuja and threw our contacts into the efforts to reclaim the mandate. As expected, some of the meetings strayed into discussion about the path to the development of Oyo State and there was no doubt that he was prepared to give the state a different paradigm of leadership. The quest for the mandate also brought out the innate qualities in him as an organiser, believer in the rule of law and most importantly his values.
“I recall a particular experience. One of the contacts in the effort at reclaiming the mandate had introduced Senator Ajimobi to a prominent Nigerian. At the meeting held in the Asokoro residence of the businessman, he left no one in doubt about his capacity to deliver on the project as he made telephone calls to some individuals who were to play critical role in the determination of the matter. But this was to be at a cost. Ajimobi was to sign an Irrevocable Standing Order for the deduction of N1.5Billion from the monthly federal allocation to the state for one year as fee for the service. Even in the almost certain assurance that he would become the governor, he declined.
“As we drove out of the Asokoro residence of the highly connected businessman, one of those at the backseat of the car provocatively wondered aloud ‘is this man (Ajimobi) okay?’. It was later that I realised that Ajimobi heard the offensive comment but chose to ignore the complaint.
”’Is this how they govern Nigeria?’, he asked repeatedly as he told the contact who took us to the businessman that he would never sign off the money of the state to become the governor. ‘To hell with the office’, he yelled in the hot exchanges at the review of the meeting where some of his supporters counselled that he had to shift on his morals if truly he wanted to be governor.
“Ajimobi had earlier thread this path when he was one of the very few senators who declined the N50 billion offered them to amend the constitution to remove the term limit on the president in 2006.”
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