The Ondo State deputy governor, Agboola Ajayi has asked his principal, the Ondo State governor, Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN, to blame himself for his self-inflicted woes, instead of looking for a scape goat where none exists.
Ajayi said this in reaction to a remark allegedly made by Governor Akeredolu in Ese-Odo Local Government area of the state on Saturday that his choice of deputy in the 2016 governorship election was an error.
A statement signed and released by the Chief Press Secretary to the Deputy Governor, Babatope Okeowo, said, “We understand the frustration of Governor Akeredolu over his inability to remove his deputy illegally through the instrumentality of the House of Assembly having heavily induced them with state fund to do so.
“We also understand the self-inflicted pain of running the state aground through inflated contract, clannishness and malfeasance through the N4.3 billion kept in secret account of Zenith Bank and disbursed without legislative approval.
“These and many injuries Governor Akeredolu caused himself cannot be blamed on his Deputy, HE Agboola Ajay,i who he has sidelined for the past three and half years.”
Okeowo recalled that Akeredolu contested in the 2012 Ondo State governorship election and came a distant third in the election, won by Dr. Olusegun Mimiko of Labour Party.
Insisting that it was the experience, weight and political capital Hon Ajayi brought into the 2016 gubernatorial election that produced the current All Progressives Congress, APC-led government in the state, Okeowo recalled the Yoruba proverb that says when the head is rotten, the whole body is destroyed, is apt in Ondo State as Governor Akeredolu has destroyed the economy of the state and cornered her resources for few cronies and family members.
The statement said that if there is any wrong choice, it is Governor Akeredolu, who has refused to take all-wise counsel, not only from his deputy but by senior citizens of Ondo State.
