The Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Ladoja, and the widow of former Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi, Florence Ajimobi, have separately denied allegations that they attempted to induce members of the Oyo State House of Assembly to initiate impeachment proceedings against Governor Seyi Makinde.
The denials came on Tuesday after the state parliament was rocked by declarations from individual lawmakers distancing themselves from suspected conversations between Mrs. Ajimobi and Olubadan and House Speaker Adebo Ogundoyin regarding a supposed conspiracy to remove the governor.
Ogundoyin had received separate invitations from Olubadan and the widow of the previous governor, according to a widely shared statement from the assembly’s Chief Whip, Gbenga Oyekola, which sparked the dispute.
The letter claims that Olubadan offered the Speaker a House of Representatives ticket under the APC “along with the necessary funds to prosecute the election” and counseled him on his desire to become governor.
According to reports, the Speaker declined. According to Oyekola, the invites were intended to sow discord within the legislature and facilitate Makinde’s removal from office.
Ads by “I never participated in any such meetings or arrangements, nor was I consulted or invited.” Governor Seyi Makinde is my employer, and I cannot and will not betray him,” Oyekola declared.
Olubadan responded by denouncing the accusations as blatant lies and cautioning against involving the royal throne in party politics through his media assistant, Adeola Oloko.
This is a lie, to put it mildly. You don’t need to be a former senator or governor to understand that a monarch cannot remove the chairman of a municipal government, much less a state governor. The statement said, “Don’t drag the Olubadan throne into dirty politics.”
Speaking through her media office, Mrs. Ajimobi called the allegations “entirely false, baseless, and a deliberate act of disinformation” intended to damage her name.
According to her statement, “Ajimobi never convened, attended, or participated in any such meeting with any individual or group for the purpose of discussing impeachment or destabilizing the state government,” and it was “malicious political propaganda” to associate her name with such a scheme.
Speaker Ogundoyin, who was at the center of the controversy, said that he was approached with inducements that he flatly rejected, but he denied taking money from APC proxies to help with the impeachment.
At every meeting, no money was exchanged. The rumor was made up to damage my reputation and undermine the state assembly and government. Nothing can change my conscience or erode my loyalty to the governor, the party, and the people we were elected to serve, therefore even though I was presented with tempting offers and possibilities, I turned them down without hesitation,” he stated.
The Speaker explained that his visit to Olubadan was “purely consultative and took place weeks earlier,” adding that he had gone to tell the king about his desire to become governor and ask for his blessing in accordance with custom and reverence for the monarchy.
