Ogun State Government has reacted to a report that Governor Ibikunle Amosun is scheming to prevent the in-coming governor, Mr. Dapo Abiodun, access to facilities where his inauguration should hold on May 29.
Such facilities are the Moshood Abiola Stadium and the June 12 Cultural Centre, the frontages of which construction work has exploded in the past few days.
Many say the governor is fighting back since his candidate lost the election to Abiodun.
But in a statement on Thursday, the government said those spreading the insinuation were mischief makers.
In a statement signed by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media, Rotimi Durojaye, it said:
The attention of the Ogun State Government has been drawn to several unfounded allegations and innuendos trending in the public space with regard to the upcoming inauguration of the new administration. Two of such unsavoury allegations are worthy of mention here. The first was that the government deliberately blocked the road and approach leading to the June 12 Cultural Centre , venue of pre-Inauguration activities. The second, rather more reckless, is the story credited the Police Public Relations Officer, Ogun State Command, that the Police had uncovered a phantom ploy to disrupt the upcoming inauguration activities. We will hope that the PPRO was misquoted.
Suffice to say that our administration has earned a reputation for not engaging in needless media war, particularly puerile allegations and innuendoes from political jobbers and mischief makers with purpose to serve. Our disposition therefore remains to maintain stoic and dignified silence, even in the face of criminal untruths and unfair provocation as we are confident that posterity and chroniclers of history will properly situate our respective roles.
Having said that, we say emphatically that the allegations alluded to above are figments of the imagination of the mischief makers. The on-going construction work between NNPC and Kuto Roundabout started over a year ago. Ironically, what the contractors are doing in the past few days is to tidy up that axis to ensure more comfortable motoring experience for members of the public who will receive President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday, and by implication to make attendance at the inauguration programme more convenient.
That lofty objective was achieved and today the pre-inauguration programme of the incoming Administration is the earliest beneficiary of that thoughtful intervention. As for the phantom disruption tale, we have engaged the police authorities to stress the real danger in dishing out manifestly untrue, unproved and de-marketing statements to the public. We have received assurances that no one will become a tool in the hands of the fifth columnists who do not wish Ogun State well.
We assure all stakeholders that we shall do all within our power and resources to keep the hard earned peace in this blessed State. As the sitting Administration, we intend to sustain the appropriate environment for the new Administration to take off orderly.
