Comment smacks of debilitating idleness, says Akala

By Ola Ajayi

IBADAN— Some founding chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Oyo State have alleged that since the Governor has made the state ungovernable by his high-handedness, a state of emergency should be declared to bring sanity to the state.

They alleged that the governor has battered the image of the party due to his unpopular decision and except the top echelon of the party quickly rise to the occasion, it could jeopardise the party’s chances in the 2011 elections.

Instead of the governor to continue in this manner, they said it would be preferable if a sole administrator is chosen to steer the leadership of the state.
According to the group led by Senator Lekan Balogun who was flanked by four of the purportedly suspended lawmakers in the state, all institutions in the state had broken down and that continued silence on the state of things would spell doom and take its toll on the PDP-led state in the 2011.

While justifying reasons why the state of emergency should be declared, he said, teachers in the state were on strike for good reasons and to redress all sorts of alleged extortion and denial of basic rights by Akala-led government.

He said, “the governor is at loggerheads with the Civil Service Union, Nigerian Union of Teachers,NUT, poultry farmers and he is at the warfront with the traditional rulers. Government has not paid workers for two to three months and failure to pay salary alone could make the state ungovernable.”

Other allegations against the governor include allegedly allowing hoodlums to desecrate the State House of Assembly and striped some democratically elected lawmakers naked.

“If the state continues like this, then the state of emergency is inevitable. The lawmakers cannot go to work because their lives are at stake”, he explained.

Senator Balogun defended alleged decision taken by the National Working Committee of the PDP that there is presently no party executive in the state, saying it had no choice going by all concrete and undeniable evidence placed before it.

Replying, Governor Alao-Akala through his Special Adviser on Public Communication, Prince Dotun Oyelade said, “for Senator Lekan Balogun to call for a state of emergency in Oyo State smacks of debilitating idleness.
Apparently dissatisfied that his earlier similar calls have been roundly ignored by everyone whose attention he craves, the former senator has become a butt of joke in political circle where he is referred to as casino politician for his wanton unpredictability.