Oyo deputy governor resumes at environment ministry

• Makinde didn’t neglect your local council, PDP group tells Olaniyan
• Says his pettiness, inordinate ambition condemnable

Oyo State Deputy Governor, Rauf Olaniyan, yesterday, resumed at the Ministry of Environment where he was asked to operate from.

His arrival at the ministry caught members of staff on duty by surprise.

Olaniyan had recently dumped the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Also, the House of Assembly had levelled five allegations against him, bordering on gross misconduct, abuse of office, financial recklessness, abandonment of office and official duty, and insubordination and other offences.

The petition was signed by 23 members of the House and he was expected to respond to the allegations within a week.

MEANWHILE, a group within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Oyo State chapter, the Oyo PDP-Visionaries, has described as “cooked-up, baseless and self-serving a report in which some loyalists of the deputy governor blamed Governor Seyi Makinde for not developing Oorelope Local Council, Igboho.

The group added that contrary to the false narrative by Olaniyan and his sympathisers, Makinde’s developmental strides had left no area untouched, with the administration recording many achievements in Oorelope Local Council and other councils in Oke-Ogun.

The Lead Visioner of the group, Qudus Olayide, in a statement, yesterday, said that despite the disloyalty, inordinate ambition and self-conceited tendencies demonstrated by the deputy governor, it was untrue that the Makinde administration neglected Oorelope Local Council.

The statement added that though the deputy governor deliberately deprived his local council of greater development as a result of his pettiness, obsession and disparaging the governor, the Makinde-led administration made huge marks on Oorelope local council like all others across the state.

The group said that many projects had been undertaken in Oorelope Local Council across the four pillars of the Makinde government, adding that the ongoing Saki-Ogbooro-Igboho Road under construction is a major project that will terminate in Igboho and that when completed, it will not only urbanise the council, but also assist its commerce and economy.

The statement reads in part: “We read a report in which some individuals on the payroll of Rauf Olaniyan attempted to rubbish Governor Seyi Makinde administration’s developmental strides across all the zones in the state.

“We have also heard that a similar false narrative is being spread within Oorelope Local Council with a view to poisoning the minds of the public against Makinde.”

“We know that the Oyo State government is constructing the Saki-Ogbooro-Igboho Road, a 44-kilometre stretch of road that will, when completed, urbanise and boost the economy of the local council, as it is an arterial road in Oke-Ogun area.

“We are also aware that some projects have been recorded in Oorelope Local Council under the administration of Governor Makinde.”

“While one cannot rule out the fact that the people of the council, like all others, would have more demands and wishes, it is always said that government cannot satisfy all developmental aspirations at once.

“Instead of trying to blackmail the governor to make him appear as someone who loves his local council, Olaniyan should list the efforts he made to attract development to the council or to Oke-Ogun when he was busy fighting the governor.”