A former governor of Oyo State, Senator Rasidi Adewolu Ladoja, has denied a statement by the incumbent Governor, Abiola Ajimobi, that he received a gift of a plot of land from him.
Recall that Ajimobi had on Saturday while featuring on the state-owned Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCOS), declared that he gave Ladoja a plot of land worth N60 million.
But Ladoja in statement made available to journalists on Sunday by his Media Assistant, Mr. Lanre Latinwo, said that the land in question was once maintained by Ladoja and he (Ajimobi) voluntarily gave the former governor free of charge when the state housing corporation intended to revolve the allocation.
He said “To set the records straight, the land in question is a plot of land which shares a common fence with Ladoja’s house and he has been the one weeding the plot and keeping it clean.
“Last year, the state Housing Corporation put a notice on the land to the effect that the state government wanted to revoke the plot. At that point, Ladoja indicated interest and wrote a letter to the officials and copied the letter to the governor.
“The land had been fallow before Ladoja became governor and he never abused his office by appropriating the government land to himself. So, when the matter got to his office, he (Ajimobi) said it should be given to Ladoja free of charge.
“Ladoja queried whether the governor has power to waive a statutory payment and wrote to the Housing Corporation asking for the cost of the allocation and to which no response has been sent till date. The story that he gave Ladoja a parcel of land therefore does not add up,” he said.
Ladoja in the statement also faulted another claim by Ajimobi where he stated that the state government spent N100m on Olubadan coronation.
He said that Ibadan people did not beg the governor for money for the coronation of the monarch a year ago.
“Was the money he claimed to have spent budgeted for? Was it personal money? Did Ibadan people go to him cap in hand for him to foot the bill? Oyo State money should be spent judiciously for the use of all the people of the state and not a section of it. How much did the governor spend on the coronation ceremonies in other towns and cities?”
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