Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice of Ondo State, Dr Olukayode Ajulo (SAN), has criticised veteran columnist, Festus Adedayo’s opinion article “Aiyedatiwa’s Years of the Locusts,” published February 22, 2026.
Ajulo’s statement was signed on February 23, 2026.
The Attorney-General, who has long maintained a posture of restraint befitting his high office, explained that he had previously been constrained by the dignity and impartiality required of his position not to engage in public banter or respond to partisan commentary.
However, he stated unequivocally that what he read from Adedayo—whom he described as a writer for whom he harbours “tremendous respect”—was not journalism as he knows it, but rather “intellectual terrorism” “cyberbullying” and “a deliberate cocktail of malicious lies” that carries “precarious liabilities.”
Ajulo declared that the piece had crossed into territory that could no longer be ignored; “When a decorated and senior writer descends into calling a democratically elected leader a ‘vulture with talons soaked in blood and greed,’ fabricates a ‘third-term ambition’ likened to Sani Abacha, and peddles the outrageous falsehood of ‘retarded and arrested development’ despite verifiable, monumental achievements, the line has been crossed from opinion into actionable libel per se. This should not be dignified with silence by every man of conscience.”
Presenting what he termed an “irrefutable dossier of facts and numbers,” the AG dismantled the central claims of the article with forensic precision:
• Infrastructure: Over 190 kilometres of quality roads commissioned and advanced across the three senatorial districts in the first year of the elected mandate (February 2025–February 2026). Key projects include the 6 km Aiyegunle–Iwaro Oka Road (long abandoned by previous administrations), which the Olubaka of Oka, Oba Yusuf Adebori Adeleye, publicly praised as one “previous administrations failed to accomplish,” stating that “Governor Aiyedatiwa has written his name in the hearts of our people.” Other named roads: 5.5 km Igoba Township Road, Alagbaka Extension, Gbangbalogun–Odole–Odiolowo, Lao–Oke Padre–Odopetu, Ecobank–Oke Arata, Ajegunle, Oja Oshodi, SK Bright Street, Ayeloro Street, and Owo clusters (Falodun, Kajola, Iselu–Isuada spanning 3.5 km).
• Healthcare: 112 primary healthcare centres renovated or newly constructed across all 18 LGAs and now operational; massive expansion of the Orange Health Insurance Scheme; commissioning of the 100,000-litre solar-powered Omi Irorun O’Datiwa Water Project at FUTA Teaching Hospital serving over 6,000 residents; recent commissioning of new centres in Adegbola (Akure) and Surulere (Ondo).
• Education: 280 classrooms constructed or renovated, plus perimeter fencing of numerous schools while over 2000 teachers have been employed.
• Economy: Revalidation of the Ondo Deep Sea Port licence and advancement of refinery and petrochemical projects with strategic partners.
On the tragic APC ward congress violence in Idanre (February 18–19, 2026), Ajulo reiterated that “Governor Aiyedatiwa immediately and publicly condemned it in the strongest terms, distanced his administration completely, directed security agencies to investigate and prosecute all perpetrators without fear or favour (13 suspects already arrested), and has cooperated fully with federal authorities, including a meeting with President Tinubu and various stakeholders; an act of transparent accountability, not orchestration”
He described any imputation of criminal acts by miscreants and political opportunists to the Governor as “only reckless but potentially seditious.”
Ajulo categorically rejected claims of a “third-term ambition,” affirming the Governor’s focus solely on the four-year “OUR EASE” mandate renewed in November 2024. He dismissed allegations of misuse of state funds for personal legal matters as “baseless rumour,” stating: “Under my watch as Attorney-General, not a kobo has been expended on legal matters where Governor Aiyedatiwa is sued privately or personally.”
Invoking Sections 373–381 of the Criminal Code Act and the common-law tort of libel, Ajulo warned that the false imputations of criminality, corruption, and gross incompetence constitute libel per se and carry “precarious liabilities.” He placed Adedayo and any sponsors on formal notice of intent to pursue full legal redress.
In closing, the Attorney-General portrayed Governor Aiyedatiwa as “a tested, compassionate, divinely positioned servant-leader” who has delivered stability, empathy, and accelerated progress while honouring past legacies and adding bold new strides. “The resilient people of Ondo know the truth—they walk the roads, access the healthcare, and see the difference,” Ajulo concluded. “The sun of Ondo State shines brighter than ever. No amount of sponsored vitriol from merchants of falsehood can dim it.”
