Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has attributed his absence from the inauguration of the South-West special security outfit, Amotekun, to bad weather.
His Ogun State counterpart, Dapo Abiodun, said he had another engagement in his domain.
According to him, this prevented him from flying to Ibadan on Thursday.
The outfit was inaugurated amid the hope that it will ease security tension in the land.
Sanwo-Olu and Ogun as well as Osun State (Gboyega Isiaka) governors were absent at the event.
Their Oyo, Ondo and Ekiti counterparts were there.
Speaking in an interview on Sanwo-Olu’s absence, his Chief Press Secretary, Gboyega Akosile, said: “Governor Sanwo-Olu was billed to attend the launch. He has always cooperated with other South-West governors and has always attended every of the meetings on this initiative. As of Monday, the manifest that came out specifically stated that the governor would attend the launch of Operation Amotekun on Thursday.
“The helicopters operators called to inform us they will not be able to fly to Ibadan because of bad weather. At the time we got the information there was no way we would meet up with the programme by road transport.”
On his part, Abiodun’s Chief Press Secretary, Kunle Somorin, explained that his principal had a meeting with elderly stakeholders in Ogun.
“He (governor) held another programme; Elder consultative forum,” ‘The Punch’ quoted him as saying.
Ismail Omipidan, Isiaka’s CPS, said that although the governor could not attend the event, his deputy did. He said, “As a government, Osun State attended the launch of Amotekun in Ibadan today. Since the South-West security meeting started, Governor Oyetola has never missed a day.
“He has always attended in person. On two occasions, it was only himself and the host governor that were physically present. Others sent representatives. But today, he needed to attend to other state matters that were as important as the security issue you mentioned.”
