Oyo State Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, yesterday said that no amount of intrigues, blackmail and manipulations by the Accord Party (AP) and its gubernatorial candidate in the last general elections, Senator Rashidi Ladoja, could unseat him as governor.
He stated this while addressing hundreds of artisans, traders, market men and women, as well as religious bodies who thronged the Governor’s Office to congratulate him on his victory at the Election Petitions Tribunal on Tuesday.
The group comprised over 25 professional associations including the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Employees, National Council of Muslim Youth Organization (NACOMYO), National Automobile Technicians Association (NATA), Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Fuji Musicians Association of Nigeria, Igede Development Association and National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) among others.
In apparent reference to Ladoja’s decision to appeal against the tribunal’s judgment, the governor said his mandate was of God no amount of blackmail could change the will of God and the mandate freely given by the people of the state.
Ajimobi said, “When I heard that my egbon (senior brother), Senator Rashidi Ladoja, said that he was not satisfied with the tribunal judgment and that he vowed to head for the Court of Appeal, I said he (Ladoja) should go to wherever he wants to go.
“But I want to assure you all and the good people of Oyo State that thousands of Accord Party and its candidate, Senator Rashidi
Ladoja, cannot unseat me. This mandate is of God and popularly given to me by the good people of this state”
Governor Ajimobi pledged that his administration would continue to implement policies and programmes that would promote the well-being of artisans, traders and all professional associations as a deliberate step to boost small and medium scale businesses.
The Deputy State Chairman of NATA, Alhaji Rahman Oyediran and Alhaja Motilade Adedeji, President of Pepper Sellers Association, who spoke on behalf of others, thanked God for the victory and pledged their unalloyed support for the Ajimobi’s administration.
