Finance
Eid ground clash: ‘Governor Adeleke’s account illogical’ – Ajibola Basiru
Former Senate spokesman Ajibola Basiru yesterday faulted Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke on Wednesday’s clash at an Eid praying ground in Osogbo.
The clash at the Oke-Baale area of Osun State followed disagreements over the sitting arrangement on the first row.
It resulted in the governor storming out of the venue without observing two Rakat prayers.
But Basiru told reporters yesterday that some of Adeleke’s aides were not representing him well.
He said: “I pity the Governor of Osun State; he is surrounded by people who don’t know how to represent him very well and those who are supposed to be his handlers are people who are pushing illogical narratives for him and I will give you two examples.
“The spokesperson said some hoodlums were seen in about three buses at the Eid ground and up till today nothing has happened in terms of arresting and bringing them to book.
“The governor left the premises, leaving those thugs in the venue without arresting them up till now and he is supposed to be the chief security officer, who swore to the Constitution.
“Section 14 states that security and welfare are paramount responsibilities of the governor, so that statement by Olawale Rasheed is an indictment on the governor himself. Maybe he does know the implications on the office of the governor.
“To also say the governor arrives at a place to meet such a situation means that the security around the governor is also porous because there is supposed to be an advance team that would have gone to do security reconnaissance. Two things would have happened; either they are inefficient or outright liars.”
He added: “I am a Muslim but I don’t mix politics and religion. Some people pretend to be what they are not to appeal to voters.
“It is also ironic that for somebody who is a Muslim, no matter how hard it is, no matter the issues involved – to observe a two-Rakat prayer should not be an issue. He stormed out of the Eid and after that, his spokesperson said he went to do thanksgiving.
“I don’t know if it was a Muslim, Christian, or traditional thanksgiving because there is nothing like thanksgiving in Islam. For me, as our people begin to grow and demand good governance from public officials, as we begin to pay our taxes, they will take governance seriously and won’t let anybody deceive them using the primordial sentiment of religion.”
But the governor’s spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, accused Basiru of being behind the violence at the Eid ground.
He said: “The governor’s handlers are more than competent, hence the superlative performance of the administration in the last seven months. There was an advance team that had secured a space for the governor.
“SRJ hijacked the space and refused to vacate the space when approached by protocol officers first and later by Osogbo leaders.
“The handlers are smarter because SRJ’s agenda was to create violence and stampede which he planned to blame on the governor. The presence of armed thugs was to kill and create a stampede, all of which would have been blamed on the governor.
“But the team was smarter, hence the governor leaving the venue and denying dark minds of their yearnings for blood. Again, the right thing was done by the police who quizzed the culprit, SRJ. Ongoing is an investigation by the police.