Former governorship aspirant in Oyo State, Prof. Soji Adejumo has revealed that the impeachment plan of the then governor, Senator Rashidi Ladoja, was actually targeted at both the governor and his deputy, Otunba Christopher Adebayo Alao-Akala.
Prof. Adejumo, who was also the former Chairman of the Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board, gave the revelation while featuring on a programme, Parrot/Ayekooto on Radio, aired on Splash 105.5fm on Tuesday.
He said that he never regretted being part of the people who masterminded the impeachment of Senator Rashidi Ladoja, saying that the Ibadan High Chief was impeached because he was not running the government as expected and his attitude towards governance.
According to Prof Adejumo, “yes, I can say here categorically that Otunba Alao Akala was not part of the process that led to the impeachment of the then governor of the state, Senator Rashidi Ladoja. I was part of those that impeached him, I have no regret participating in it, and I have even spoken to Ladoja my brother recently about it.
“During that period, we were not happy with the way he was running the government of the state and his attitude towards governance made him to be impeached. Furthermore, if the constitution had permitted it, his deputy, Akala would also have been impeached with him.
“I make bold to say essentially here that Akala was not part of any meeting that led to Senator Ladoja’s impeachment and when I heard that Ladoja spoke that his former deputy was not part of those that impeached him, I gave kudos to him for telling the truth.
“When Akala became the governor by chance, we spoke with him and stated our demands to him, he made governance very easy for the people and the party stakeholders, and he was very approachable while in office,” he said.
In his submission about the political trajectory of late Alao-Akala and the lesson he wants politicians to learn from it, Prof Adejumo says “everything is ordained by God, looking at the background of the late governor, he was not born with a silver spoon. When he came into the world, he was not even expecting to become a governor, he was opportune to find himself in the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and after his compulsory retirement, he ventured into politics and became the chairman of a local government in Ogbomosho under the All Peoples Party (APP).
“Nobody gave the party, APP the opportunity of winning any local government seat because Alliance for Democracy (AD) was in the majority and won virtually all the votes in the election. When he aspired to re-contest for the same seat, the people of his community opposed him by supporting another candidate before he was eventually picked as the deputy governor.
“God really helped him and surrounded him with strong supporters during his travails, when he was denied the ticket to return as LG chairman, he was nominated as the deputy governorship candidate.
“When we went to Eagles Square in Abuja for the congress after we failed to hold it in Oyo state, Akala was not permitted to come in as a delegate, he was left stranded outside the venue and it was he that was helping us to arrange for the urgent needs of our delegates from the other end.
“A night before the scheduled date of the congress we were in Baba Lamidi Adedibu’s room in a hotel in Abuja and his name was among the delegates’ list but unfortunately, on the day of the congress his name was expunged. Miraculously, God decided to reward him with the office of a deputy governor and he performed creditably well,” Adejumo revealed.
Speaking about his death, the APC chieftain, described Alao-Akala as a compassionate leader, “I was pained and devastated by the sudden announcement of his death. I actually planned to see him before his death but he left unannounced. I am sure he was looking forward to his 80th birthday celebration because during his lifetime, he was a lively person.
“He was human and humane in the sense that with little prompting, he is always ready to lend a helping hand. Whenever he saw people in need and distress, he was always ready to provide succor. He was a compassionate leader and he possesses good attributes that many politicians lack.”
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