Constituents kick as Oyo house approves names for LG headship

Aggrieved members of the ruling All Progressive’s Congress (APC) in the Ibarapa Central Local Government of Oyo state have kicked against the reappointment of Bola Olawoore as the Caretaker Chairman of the council.

The state governor, Abiola Ajimobi, had, on Friday, sacked all the interim chairmen of the 33 local governments in the state, but forwarded names for replacement to the state House of Assembly same day.

At its emergency plenary on Monday, the state's legislature approved the list sent to it by the governor.

Ajimobi, in the list, returned 25 of the sacked council bosses, including Olawoore, and appointed another eight individuals to replace the ones dropped.

But, reacting to Olawoore’s reappointment on Monday, some members of the APC in his constituency threatened to quit the party if their earlier agreement on position sharing was not respected.

Najeem Fasasi, the APC Secretary in the council, said there was an agreement that no ward would produce the party chairman and the local government boss at the same time, adding that Olawoore is from Idere town in the same ward 2 where Babatunde David, the new party chairman in the local government, hails from.

Fasasi warned that the party may have to forfiet its chance in future elections if it fails to respect agreement it freely made with members.

Also speaking, Fagemiro Ayinde, the party’s Organising Secretary, noted that all was not well with the APC in Ibarapa Central, adding that it was not too late for the party to make amends.

“I am part of the agreement as the organising secretary and it was stated that the two positions cannot come from the same ward.’’

However, David, the APC Chairman in the council, had denied the existence of any pact, insisting that all wards benefitted from the political positions.

“We have the council divided into three blocks, namely blocks 1,2 and 3. We have Alhaji Olayide Abas from block one as a Board Chairman, Mr Adewale Adeoye as a Commissioner from block two and Mr Bola Olawoore, the Caretaker Chairman from block three. I wonder where such agreement emanated from,’’ he said.

Olawoore, the reappointed LG interim boss, also described the agitation as baseless and a cheap blackmail to get him out of office at all cost.

Meanwhile, the state house of assembly has directed all the approved nominees for the interim chairman positions in the 33 local governments of the state to come with their credentials for screening.