The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Oyo State chapter, has expressed happiness at the reported decision of a former governor of the state, Senator Rashidi Ladoja to contest the 2015 governorship election in the state, describing it as a welcome development.
A media report on Monday indicated that Senator Ladoja, whose reign between 2003 and 2007 was punctuated by impeachment and judicial reinstatement, is warming up for the 2015 governorship race.
The party, in a statement issued in Ibadan on Monday by its state Publicity Secretary, Hon. Dauda Kolawole, said that it was not disappointed at the reported move by Ladoja, stating that all his frantic moves to pull down the ACN-led administration were geared towards paving way for the realization of his ambition.
“Any discerning mind would know that the surreptitious move by Ladoja to pull down the Governor Abiola Ajimobi administration through frequent attacks, peddling of falsehood and spreading of outright propaganda, is to clear the path for his governorship ambition which will continue to be a pipe dream,” it said.
ACN further said that the development would present the people of the state the golden opportunity of asking the former governor questions on what he did to benefit the state while he held sway as governor.
“Besides, the people of Oyo State will also have an ample opportunity to ask Ladoja to present his health dossier, answer questions on why he left Ibadan, the state capital and indeed, the entire state largely under-developed and why nothing worked during his administration.
“Senator Ladoja should also be preparing to answer questions on why his administration was characterized by violence and brigandage, and why he promoted thuggery to the level that the people of the state were living in perpetual fear of insecurity,” it said.
The party also reminded the former governor that by 2015 when the next governor of the state would be sworn in, Ladoja would be 70 years, querying,“what has Ladoja forgotten at the Agodi Government House that he wants to go and take at the age of 70?
“Ladoja is indeed confused. At one breath, he said that his lifetime ambition was to become the Olubadan of Ibadanland, while at another breath, he is dreaming of returning as governor. The former governor should be told in plain language that he is suffering from illusion of grandeur. He is nothing but a prisoner of his inordinate ambition,” the ACN said.
The party, while wishing the former governor well in his new venture, declared that, given the monumental achievements of Governor Ajimobi within a spate of two years in the areas of peace and security, as well as massive infrastructural development across the state, all of which are enjoying wide applause, the 2015 governorship election would be a walk-over for him.
