For 7 days now, the chairperson of Atiba local government, Kafilat Olakojo, has been forced to work from outside the council headquarters located on the Oyo-Ogbomoso expressway, Ofa Meta,OYOINSIGHT.COM can report.
This is courtesy of the councilors in the council area.
Party leaders, this newspaper learnt, has made move to douse tension and reconcile them. Last Friday, a leader of the party, Alhaji Kadiri Olatunji was said to have invited the warring parties to his Boroboro home, where he asked them to cease fire.
This afternoon, the leadership of the party will be visiting the council secretariat where they would resolve the matter.
”Apart from the councilors’ issue, the chairperson is not taking care of the party. That is part of what would be discussed,” a source hinted.
Before now, Olakojo and her vice-chairman, Seun Oguntona Olunloyo, sources told OYOINSIGHT.COM, are engaged in supremacy battle over the control of administration.
This newspaper understand that Olakojo was secretary at the council when Olunloyo was caretaker chairman before the council election. While Olakojo is now the council boss, Olunloyo, being the vice-chairman, is overseeing affairs at the local council development area at Soro.
Olakojo was alleged to have said that Olunloyo does not want to see her as his boss.
Efforts by OYOINSIGHT.COM to speak with the chairperson failed as calls placed to her line failed to connect.
The councilors, who are said to be enjoying the support of Olunloyo and party stakeholders, were said to have locked out Olakojo last Monday, preventing workers from gaining access into the council secretariat.
Some of the councilors who spoke to OYOINSIGHT.COM on the condition of anonymity alleged the council boss of not being transparent in her dealings. They also said that she has not been doing well for the party.
“The council secretariat has been under lock since Monday. The councilors are protesting against the chairperson over poor accountability and transparency in disbursement of security votes and others. They have asked the career officers to stop coming to office. She has been working from GRA since Monday,” said another source.
But another source who is in the know of the matter but did not want to be quoted as he was not authorized to speak, explained that “Of course, the councillors were making agitation on their entitlement on seminars and renovation of their offices that are in 90 per cent completed. The perceived delay by the bureaucracy of the offices of senior officers didn’t go down well with them.
“Immediately she was informed of the crisis, she requested for a resolution between the councillors and the top management and those issues were resolved.
“Anyway, the issue was not as reported that the executive chairman, Hon (Mrs) Kafilat Olakojo was the target or that she was unable to discharge her duties effectively. To be honest with you, the chairman has achieved relative peace in Atiba local government in terms of security, since her inception of office and in terms of infrastructure. She has embarked on grading of some community roads, rehabilitation of Oroki-Alayande Road, provision of two motorized boreholes at Baale Agbe Village & Aawe Awe junction.
“Two maternity centres are nearly 80 per cent completion at Ode Aremo and other places. In terms of women empowerment, hair dryers, grinding machines, has cylinders utensils were distributed to women few weeks ago. She emphasized that, as soon as the funds continue to accrue to the local government, many developmental projects are in pipeline for execution.
“And another bone of contention is that the councillors had impressed it on the management to block the leakages on the revenue of markets like Saabo, Ajegunle and Obada…. which the rate officers were foot dragging on. But on this, the executive chairman has instructed immediate review of the activities of finance department to improve the internally generated revenue,” the source added.
