By Diamond Oke
The All Progressives Congress in Oyo State has on Sunday advised Governor Seyi Makinde to be humble enough and seek guidance from Senator Abiola Ajimobi in “matter of effective public administration and purposeful governance rather than put the blame of his disappointing show of nine months on the doorstep of his immediate predecessor who did his best and left a legacy of performance behind”.
Gov. Makinde may have stirred the hornet’s nest at an official function in Ibadan at the weekend where he was quoted as saying that it was wrong for anyone to refer to his predecessor as the architect of modern Oyo State. The governor’s assertion came against the background of high reverence which Ajimobi enjoyed among his admirers who rate him high on performance in office as a two-term governor of the state.
Oyo APC, in a statement issued at the weekend and made available to journalists in Ibadan by its Assistant Publicity Secretary, Prince Ayobami Adejumo, said that “Gov. Makinde has succeeded in exposing himself as an emergency governor who is incapable of adding value to the governance of the state against the expectations of the majority of voters who chose him ahead of others on March 9, 2019.
“There have been concerns among people from all walks of life about the turn of event in the state since May last year when the current PDP government was inaugurated. Political watchers and pundits have had cause to ask questions about the readiness and competence of Gov. Makinde to continue from where his immediate predecessor stopped when they discovered that he (Makinde) lacked the required attributes to move the Pacesetter State forward.
“For us in Oyo APC, what is playing out at the moment has validated our position on the need for continuity as well as the need for electorate to consider a candidate with prerequisite experience in public governance. The major shock came to us when the then governor-elect did not stop campaigning even after INEC had declared him the winner of the gubernatorial poll. He came into office in the same mood and still goes about the business of governance as if he is on campaign ground.
“Just like ‘Constituted Authority’ needless brouhaha which went down only after the former governor came out in the open to lecture the confused minds on the correct language expression, Oyo State modern day architecture was premised on the new face of governance brought about by Sen. Ajimobi as a sharp departure from what obtained before he came into office. This fact was attested to by a good population of informed minds in Nigeria and beyond.
“With decent business-like approach, Ajimobi came into office and wasted no time to make a huge difference. He gave new orientation to public servants and residents who had been badly influenced by some authorities in the past. The way he handled the devastating flood disaster of August 26, 2011 went down in the history as most responsive and effective. At this trying time, the largest contingents of delegation were attracted to Ibadan and succour came the way of victims in no time.
“The major bridge on the road linking State Secretariat to the University of Ibadan was completely washed away in the wake of the flooding but this was fixed in a better way and in record time. By February, 2012 when the Ajimobi administration was barely nine months old, 20, 000 jobless youth had been fixed in the Oyo Youth Empowerment (YES-O) scheme. This was after the Governor’s Office and the entire state government Secretariat had been given a massive facelift.
“Above all, Sen. Ajimobi completely changed the old narrative of Ibadan being the hub of violence, brigandage and indecent practices within his first 100 days in office as he put in place an impeccable security architecture which he sustained for eight years. However, our drift is not about living on past glory but now that the solid foundation comes under threat from a clueless and grossly incompetent successive administration, there is need for general concern.” APC submitted.
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