A socio-political group in Oyo State, the Oyo Kajola Group (OKG), has warned the outgoing Governor of Oyo state, Senator Abiola Ajimobi to stop creating policy bottlenecks for the incoming Governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde.
The group, in a statement by its media coordinator, Taiwo Ogunlade, said it had observed that the outgoing government has recently been taking some bile-infested actions, possibly aimed at frustrating the instant take-off of the incoming administration of Engineer Makinde.
“It is unbecoming of an administration that has spent eight years in the saddle only to orchestrate policy somersaults and start the implementation of policies aimed largely at creating problems for the incoming administration.
“We make bold to say that such actions smack of a wrong reading of the theory of power, which emphasises its transient nature. Any man who understands that power truly belongs to the people will not embark on actions tantamount to polluting the water for others after fetching a full bucket.
“Since the All Progressives Congress (APC) lost the governorship election to Engineer Makinde of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on March 9, we have observed every action by the outgoing Governor, his words and utterances.
“We believe that governor Ajimobi should be grateful for the opportunity the people of Oyo state accorded him by allowing him preside over their affairs for good eight years.
“Actions such as the derisive claim on the N30,000 Minimum wage, by claiming he will pay N30,000 when he is not known to have paid N18,000 since 2011; the contract award spree and the announcement of full restoration of 100 percent subventions to tertiary institutions barely a week to his government’s exit are merely targeted at creating bottlenecks for Engineer Makinde’s incoming administration.
“Let us state, however, that with our knowledge of the incoming Governor, no amount of impediments strewn on the path of his administration will debar him from providing quality service to the people of the state.”
The group wondered why the state government had suddenly realised its responsibilities to the tertiary institutions, workers and other sectors, after abandoning them for so long. It can only be an evidence that the outgoing administration deliberately strangulated the institutions all along. Little wonder our people in Oyo state rewarded them with the huge mark of failure at the general elections.
The Oyo Kajola Group also frowned at the obvious double speak and insincerity of Governor Ajimobi on the N30,000 minimum wage.
Making reference to how the governor, in a recent radio interview, stated that only Lagos and Rivers states can pay the new Minimum wage and that Oyo and other states cannot pay unless there is a review of the Revenue allocation formula, the group knocked Ajimobi for playing to the gallery.
“While Ajimobi wore the toga of a statesman for the first time since his party’s electoral misfortune during that radio interview, by claiming that Oyo state had been in pains coping with the existing N18, 000 wage, he equally backslid into double-speak by claiming that the new government would be able to pay N30,000, effortlessly, an attempt to unnecessarily play to the gallery.
“For a man who has been paying N13,500 as the state’s minimum wage for eight years; for a government that has refused to promote workers as and when due, failing to pay promotion arrears, which has culminated in the ongoing strike by primary school teachers, it is deceitful to suddenly jump at the N30,000 without looking at the foundational matters.
“Whereas the incoming Governor had raised issues about the practice of the nation’s federalism, which generalises wages and service conditions across the states, he has not also foreclosed the payment of living wages to our people. What we understand by his statement is a call for more dialogue with the workers of Oyo state. We are behind him in doing that.”
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