Oyo 2015: Ajimobi Challenges Ladoja, Akala, Others To Debate

Oyo 2015: Ajimobi Challenges Ladoja, Akala, Others To Debate

Governor Abiola Aji­mobi of Oyo State has challenged his opponents in the forthcoming election to an open debate on the gubernatorial con­test, saying they should come out and tell the people of the state what they had done for the state which qualifies them for the peo­ple’s mandate.

Speaking at a programme to herald the New Year, the gover­nor said: “for those who had not been there before, I really do not have problem with them. But for other contestants who had been governors before, I challenge them to an open debate. Let them come and tell the people of the state what they did while they were there which qualifies them for a comeback.

``For those who did not know, two of them are currently facing trial by the Economic and Finan­cial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on economic mismanagement while at the helm of affairs.for various charges bordering

``Besides, a sum of N500 mil­lion has just been recovered from one of them and that is part of the money we are now using for the construction of our model schools.

``A certain former governor also virtually grounded gov­ernment business by his refus­al to constitute the boards of parastatals for better part of his administration, while he placed a ban on sponsorship to Mecca and Jerusalem,’’ he alleged.

He noted that while his ad­ministration had provided al­ternative shops for the traders removed from the street free of charge, one of his predecessors who is in the gubernatorial race demolished shops in some parts of Ibadan, the state capital, with­out making any alternative ar­rangement, thus leaving the af­fected traders to their own fate.

He said that no government had been so close to both the Muslims and Christians than his administration, adding also that the magnanimity and gen­erosity which his government had shown to various segments of the society was unprecedent­ed in the history of the state.

He urged the people to shun violence, thuggery and brigand­age that pervaded the state be­tween 2003 and 2011, adding that they should choose between the peace which his administration had epitomised and the violence which the candidature of his op­ponents represented.

Source: Daily Time