L-R: Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola; host and Governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun; Dr Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti); and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (Osun), during the meeting of Governors of Western Nigeria, held at Government House, Abeokuta, Ogun State.
Governors of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN)- controlled states, have condemned what they described as “unjust persecution” of Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, over his administrative style.
Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, who spoke on behalf of his other ACN governor – colleagues in a statement issued in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State Capital on Wednesday, said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has chosen demonise Aregbesola in a bid to cripple his government and foment crisis in Osun State and the South West zone.
Fayemi, in the statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Olayinka Oyebode, said the ACN governors have observed with concern the highly orchestrated campaign of calumny mounted by the opposition against the Governor Aregbesola.
“The smear campaign which started as a market place rumour, has now assumed a dangerous dimension, especially with the dubious attempt to equate some actions of the state governor to secession plan.” He said, adding “We have watched this melodrama with some measure of amusement, especially the desperation of the opposition led by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to demonise Governor Aregbesola, who by all intent and purpose, had contributed positively to the emergence of the civil rule that we all enjoy in the country today.” He said.
Saying that an injury to one is injury to all, Governor Fayemi said the other ACN governors could no longer afford to keep quiet and watch the PDP turn Osun State and the South West to a crisis zone. Fayemi added that Governor Aregbesola was entitled to his administrative style, and could choose not to be friendly with those he regarded enemies of the culture of decency for which the Yoruba are known.
The statement added that the Osun State Governor had not breached any section of the Constitution and queried the logic behind accusing Aregbesola of planning to secede simply because Osun State has its own anthem and flag, whereas Lagos, Ekiti, Kaduna, Cross River, Ondo and several other states also have one form of identity or the other.
“The accusation that Governor Aregbesola is on a secession bid simply because Osun has a state flag, its own anthem and identity is as purile as it is stupid. Ekiti has its own identity, Cross River, Lagos, Kaduna, Ondo and several other states do. Does that mean they all want to secede? This is nothing than calling a dog a bad name in order to kill it. But those behind this evil scheme should be ready for a fight”
The statement reads : “The crudity of the various allegations against the Osun State Governor has become quite worrisome, especially with the tendency for unsuspecting members of the public to believe the falsehood that is being peddled by the PDP in the bid to foment crisis in Osun State in particular and the South west geo-political zone in general.
“Thus, we can no longer keep quiet and watch as these court jesters destroy the peace and progress that is fast taking root in the region.
“It is important to state with every sense of responsibility that the allegations against Governor Aregbesola are not only spurious, they smack of a poorly scripted plot aimed at painting him in a scurrilous light and then cripple his government. At best those allegations are unwarranted, unsubstatiable and constitute an avoidable distraction to the Governor’s efforts at taking the state out of the doldrums which they plunged the state in the first place.
“It is rather unfortunate that at this critical stage of our democratic development when all hands should be on the deck for the social-economic, industrial and infrastructural development of the country, all that interest these charlatans is childish witch hunting of Governor Aregbesola, a development that has consistently heated up the polity in the past few weeks.
“Governor Aregbesola, no doubt is entitled to his own style of relating to nemesis of the opposition in the state and the South West. He does not have to be friendly with those he regards as destroyers of the culture of decency and honour to which the Yorubaland has long been associated.
“We say no to this pull him down syndrome and the idea of battling with bull shit, those we could not dazzle with brilliance, or those whose brilliance we cannot match. This must stop.
“We are guided by the Constitution of the country and Governor Aregebsola has not breached any provision of this constitution. We will not take kindly to unwarranted and unjust persecution of the Governor or any citizen of the country for that matter, including the traducers who cannot lay claim to any positive development in the states they illegally administered in comparison to the positive development Osun State is currently witnessing.”
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Last modified: April 19, 2012
