Ladoja challenges Ajimobi over N100m Olubadan coronation spending

Photo: Premium Times

A former governor of Oyo State, Rashidi Ladoja, has criticised the state Governor, Abiola Ajimobi, for claims that the coronation of the Olubadan of Ibadan land, Oba Saliu Adetunji, cost the state N100m.

The former governor expressed his criticism as a reaction to the statement the incumbent governor made on the state broadcasting outfit during an interview on Saturday.

In a statement signed on behalf of Ladoja by one of his media aides, Lanre Latinwo, the former governor stated that Ibadan people did not request for funds from the governor for the coronation of the monarch a year ago.

The statement said, “Was the money he claimed to have spent budgeted for? Was it personal money? Did Ibadan people go to him cap in hand for him to foot the bill? Oyo State money should be spent judiciously for the use of all the people of the state and not a section of it. How much did the governor spend on the coronation ceremonies in other towns and cities?”

Ladoja also condemned the state governor for suggesting that tuition fee at the state-owned Ladoke Akintola University of Technology should be reviewed.

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He also debunked reports of ever receiving a gift of a plot of land from the present government.

Ladoja’a aide disclosed that “To set the records straight, the land in question is a plot of land which shares a common fence with Ladoja’s house and he has been the one weeding the plot and keeping it clean.

“Last year, the state Housing Corporation put a notice on the land to the effect that the state government wanted to revoke the plot. At that point, Ladoja indicated interest and wrote a letter to the officials and copied the letter to the governor.

“The land had been fallow before Ladoja became governor and he never abused his office by appropriating the government land to himself. So, when the matter got to his office, he (Ajimobi) said it should be given to Ladoja free of charge.

“Ladoja queried whether the governor has power to waive a statutory payment and wrote to the Housing Corporation asking for the cost of the allocation and to which no response has been sent till date. The story that he gave Ladoja a parcel of land therefore does not add up”.