Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State has warned that his administration would not tolerate any form of violence from any politician who lost in the last election in the state.
He gave the warning on Wednesday in Ibadan while briefing newsmen on the reported plan of some politicians to instigate violence in the state.
Ajimobi said, “Surprisingly, the Accord Party has been complaining that it would go to court. No problem. If you look at the results of the election and the conduct, it was the freest and fairest election ever held.
“Everybody said it, all his agents signed at the polling units. It is only at the final collation centre that they did not sign. Let him go to court.
“We brought peace and security to Oyo State. We established that in the state and we will not fold our arms and allow any individual to destroy it.
“Ladoja’s administration was replete with violence. Some people are sore losers, some are very sportsmanlike.
“If he says he will resort to violence as reported, we will not tolerate it. Oyo is a state where nobody is above the law.
“If he has complaints, let him go to the police to complain. But if he says he wants to lead some people to resort to violence, we will deal with him.
“Nobody is too big for the law in Oyo State. Anyone who is so desperate that even when defeated, he is crying about his intention to cause problems, he should follow due process and should obey the law of the land.
“I guarantee you, should anybody lead any group to cause violence, the law will take its full weight to deal with them, I assure them,” he said.
Going into the details of the election, the governor affirmed that the APC won ‘fair and square’.
The governor said that the results of the election revealed that APC had 25 per cent in 29 local governments, saying the party won across six political zones out of seven.
According to him, other parties did not meet the statutory requirement of 25 per cent Accord Party had only 17per cent.
“Accord and Labour won one each. Where is the spread of Accord Party? He did not win in Oyo, Ogbomoso, Oke Ogun I & II, and Ibadan city zones.
“He did not even meet the statutory requirement. Let him go to court, we are waiting,” he said.
At a meeting with his party members on Tuesday, Ladoja was allegedly quoted to have threatened to let his party members loose if assaulted by fellow politicians.
Meanwhile, the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, led prominent traditional rulers from Oyo, Ibarapa, Ogbomoso and Oke Ogun areas of the state, on Wednesday to felicitate with Ajimobi on his re-election.
The monarch said that the governor’s performance in his first term won the last Saturday’s election for him.
Oba Adeyemi, in his comment, described the victory of Ajimobi as a well deserved victory if the achievement of the governor in the last four years were to be considered.
The Oyo monarch said the contributions of Ajimobi to the development of Oyo state surpassed those of his predecessors.
Alaafin said all royal fathers from the four zones that visited the Governor contributed immensely to the election that produced victory for Ajimobi.
The ruler observed that only the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo ruled for eight years, while the successive rulers ruled for four years.
He, however, said since the inception of Ajimobi, good governance, peace and security had returned to the state.
The monarch, who described Ajimobi as a man of history, said that he was not surprised that he became the first governor who would rule the state for eight years.
The Eleruwa of Eruwa, Oba Samuel Adegbola, the Olugbon of Orile Igbon Oba Samuel Osunbade , Iba of Kisi Oba Moshood Aweda Lawal and the Olokaka of Okaka, Oba Abdul Azeez Olatunji, called the Governor-elect to work in line with the manifesto of his party.
The royal fathers also called on the candidates of the opposition parties to rally round Ajimobi to move the state forward instead of engaging in court cases.
In his response, Ajimobi expressed appreciation to the royal fathers for the support given to him and his party.
He expressed his willingness to work with some of the candidates that contested along with him, saying that the trio of Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala , Seyi Makinde and Teslim Folarin had called to congratulate him.
