Former Oyo State Governor and the Osi Olubadan of Ibadan Land, High Chief Rasheed Adewolu Ladoja has described Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose as a Pacesetter in the Nigerian education sector. He made the remark at the Ekiti State Government house on Saturday during a chat with newsmen after what he described as a “private visit to his brother”.
Alhaji Ladoja who lamented Oyo State’s poor performance in the 2017 NECO and WAEC commended governor Fayose for returning the glory of Ekiti as the Fountain of Knowledge saying “Fayose has become the Pacesetter at least in Education because not many governors can say I came 1st in NECO last year and 1st again this year, this is enough feat and I think we he should be commended”.
Affirming that he is on his way back to the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), Alhaji Ladoja accused the Oyo State incumbent governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi of causing confusion in the state because he knows he’s on his way out. “I am on my way back to the PDP and dislodging APC in Oyo State won’t be a difficult task, you will recall he’s ruling with 32% of Oyo people’s vote, I had 29% despite the power of incumbency, it wasn’t a major defeat for us.
“He knows he’s on his way out, that’s why he’s creating a lot of confusion, dabbling into issues that have nothing to do with him, the Chieftaincy issue has nothing to do with him, he didn’t say a thing about Chieftaincy when he was campaigning.
“He promised to better our education but today Oyo State came 29th in WAEC and 27th in NECO. Do not forget free education started in Oyo State, Ajimobi has failed woefully in education”, Alhaji Ladoja said.
Commenting on Mr. Fayose’s aspiration for the presidency, Chief Ladoja said no one can take away the governor’s right from him. “He has the right to contest, zoning is a gentleman’s agreement, no one can deprive another of his right as a Nigerian, all he needs do is convince others to vote for him in getting the ticket.
“Zoning the position to the north doesn’t preclude anybody from contesting, it’s his right as a Nigerian to contest, you can’t deprive him that”. He advised leadership of the PDP not to be forceful about zoning but to use it as a tool of winning elections.
Alhaji Ladoja who said he can’t say if the country can still go back to the regional system of government reiterated his support for restructuring.
“I don’t know if Ondo State will love to share its oil with Ekiti neither do I know if Lagos with an internally generated revenue of #25b per month will want to share it with other states, it’s a very delicate issue but by and large, I support restructuring and I believe we should start with economic integration in the Southwest rather than with political integration”, he said.
Berating the Buhari administration for using EFCC as an instrument of attack against the opposition rather than instrument for correcting ills of the society, High Chief Ladoja said he’s not surprised that the EFCC is after Fayose as a leading voice of the opposition adding that they are after him as well.
