President Bola Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, Deputy Senate President Jubril Barau, Majority Leader of the Senate, Opeyemi Bamidele; National Chairman, All Progressives Congress (APC), Umar Ganduje, and the immediate past Managing Director of The Guardian, Martins Oloja, among others, yesterday, eulogised the virtue of former governor of Oyo State, the late Abiola Ajimobi.
The dignitaries, while speaking during the seventh yearly Senator Abiola Ajimobi Roundtable and 75th posthumous birthday of the former lawmaker entitled: “Legislative Oversight and Accountability in Nigeria, Challenges and Prospect,” organised by Senator Abiola Ajimobi Foundation (SAAF), in collaboration with Institute of Peace and Strategic Studies, University of Ibadan (UI), commended the determination and commitment of the former governor to Executive and Legislative functions.
They said this was possible because Ajimobi served as a senator and later two-term governor before he died.
In his speech, Tinubu, who was represented by the Director-General of the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR), Dr Joseph Ochogwu, said as the governor of Oyo State, Ajimobi’s fundamental interest was the people and their well-being.
He noted that Ajimobi left a legacy of infrastructural rejuvenation, healthcare delivery, quality education, mechanised agriculture, peace and security.
In their separate keynote presentations, Bamidele and House Leader, Prof. Julius Ihonvbere, harped on Executive and Legislative collaborations, which according to them, Ajimobi stood for having served as a senator and two-term governor and briefly as interim national chairman before he passed on.
Oloja, who is one of the panellists, tasked the National Assembly to place issues that affect the people’s security and welfare at the top.
He also said that the onus is on the lawmakers to endeavour to give the people they represent necessary feedback on government policies instead of leaving the responsibilities to government appointees and agencies.
Meanwhile, President of the SAAF, Florence Ajimobi, said the utmost desire of her husband before his death was to ensure that dividends of democracy get to Nigerians.
