Gov’s emphasis unnecessary – Senator Balogun
Very soon, a new law in
Oyo State may bar a former
governor of the state,
Chief Rashidi Ladoja,
from playing politics for life.
Ladoja, who was governor of the
state from 2003 to 2007, is 72 years
old and is said to be nursing the ambition
of contesting for another term
in 2019. By that year, he would have
turned 75.
The ex-governor had lost the governorship
election to the incumbent,
Governor Abiola Ajimobi, last year.
Also to be barred from playing
partisan politics throughout his lifetime,
is a strong Ibadan politician, an
ex-serving senator, who is a chieftain
of the opposition Peoples Democratic
Party, Chief Lekan Balogun.
Both Ladoja and Balogun are
believed to be torchbearers for opposition
parties in Oyo State today,
especially, political aspirants on the
platform of the PDP.
Though Ladoja is the founder of
Accord Party on which platform
he ran for governor the last time,
sources close to him revealed that
“Oga has not forgotten his roots in
the PDP.”
The Ajimobi government in Oyo
State is under the control of the All
Progressives Congress.
THE MASTERSTROKE
The Point’s investigation has,
however, revealed that the two elderly
politicians will be banned from
politics by a masterstroke of sort.
Both Ladoja and Balogun are key
members of the Olubadan-In-Council,
and, as such, are like little kings
controlling certain areas of Ibadan,
the state capital.
According to the native tradition,
Balogun, who is now the Otun
Olubadan, and Ladoja, the Osi Olubadan,
have been lined up as successors
to the throne of Olubadan
of Ibadan. This is in line with the
age-long royal system of queuing to
ascend upon the death of a superior.
Governor Ajimobi of the APC
may have, as a result, set a stage
Ladoja, others face
life ban from politics
for an epic battle with these leading
members of the Olubadan-In-Council,
following his stand to review the
state’s chieftaincy system.
AJIMOBI’S STANCE
The governor, at the coronation of
the new Olubadan of Ibadanland,
Oba Saliu Adetunji, Aje Ogungunniso
1, last Friday, said his administration
would review the status
of Obas and Chiefs with a view to
also insulating them from partisan
politics.
According to him, the traditional
rulers as fathers of all are expected to
be non-partisan, and should thus not
be linked with any political party.
If that declaration becomes law as
implied by Ajimobi, both Ladoja and
Balogun are effectively caged from
playing politics, or they lose their
traditional titles.
While presenting his speech at
the coronation ceremony held at
the ancient Mapo Hall and attended
by prominent Nigerians, including
governors, traditional rulers and
captains of industry, Ajimobi said,