Osun group, APC differ over planned summit

Worried by the national financial crisis which has rendered many states in the federation insolvent and unable to pay wages, a group, Osun Stakeholders [OS} has planned a summit to brainstorm and proffer solution in order to place Osun on a path of quick recovery.

Speaking on behalf of the conveners of the summit, at a press briefing in Osogbo, Osun state capital, Messers Niyi Owolade and Yinka Odumakin said the summit is inevitable because of the state of affairs in the state.

However the All Progressives Congress {APC] has faulted the objective and propriety of the summit alleging it is being organised by the opposition party leaders in the state to foment trouble

The organisers of the summit said concerned citizens of the state within and outside the country can no longer fold their arms and watch the state deteriorating further without offering helping hand more so when the state governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola had declared publicly that Osun financial crisis was beyond him.

Eminent citizens of Osun including past governors and their deputies, former Senators and Speakers of state house of assembly, traditional rulers, industrial unions, professionals, religious leaders and the academia and others are expected to participate at the forum .

According to the organisers, renowned jurist and retired Judge of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, Justice Olu Adekeye would serve as chairman at the event scheduled to hold at Leisure Spring Hotel, Osogbo.

The forum according to the organisers is expected to come up with recommendations and measures that would turn around the state while they would also be made available to the authorities for consideration.

In a swift reaction to the proposal however, the ruling All Progressives Congress {APC} said yesterday that the summit is an alleged attempt by some people to cause confusion in the state.

In a statement by the Party’s Director of Publicity and Strategy, Kunle Oyatomi,he alleged the Peoples Democratic Party [PDP} governorship candidate, Senator Iyiola Omisore was the brain behind the summit.

Oyatomi alleged Omisore and his group had hidden agenda to create crisis in the state and urged the public particularly members of APC to be distant themselves from the forum.

According to APC, the summit is unnecessary because the Nobel Laureate,Professor Wole Soyinka and others had already held a summit and submitted a blueprint to the state government on how to implement Osun development agenda .

The party said ,’’The All Progressives Congress in the state of Osun has called on security agents to be doubly alert and keep a close watch on the so-called ‘Summit on Education Finance’ planned for Thursday in Osogbo by Senator Iyiola Omisore, the Osun PDP and its surrogates – Osun Stakeholders.’’

According to APC, the summit is a ploy to intended to beat security and create the atmosphere for mayhem, which the security agencies had foiled on several occasions.

It drew attention of the public to the fact that since the strike action of civil servants and teachers, the PDP had attempted on several occasions under spurious camouflage to create a situation of insecurity in Osun that’s basically peaceful.

The party advised all lovers of freedom of speech, peace and security in the state to be careful, not to get trapped in a potentially violent situation that the PDP is trying to create through a voodoo summit.

The APC stated categorically that Yinka Odumakin and the rest of the convenes, participating in the so-called Summit, do not have any superior contribution to make that could replace what Prof. Wole Soyinka, erudite professors and‎ professionals in Education had given to the Aregbeosola-led government.

The Wole Soyinka-led Summits’s advice and recommendation ‎ on how to reposition education in Osun is beyond what Omisore, PDP, and the so-called stakeholders can ever produce.