Abdul-Raheem Adebayo Shittu:

Adebayo Shittu, the Minister of communications has continued his war of words with the Oyo State Governor, Abiola Ajimobi over the ward congresses of All Progressives Congress, APC held last Saturday.

Shittu whose supporters lost out in the congress told reporters on Tuesday that the governor was determined to stop him from succeeding him because he (Ajimobi) was afraid of going to jail because of the way he has managed the resources of the state.

But the governor said it was the minister, who should be afraid because of the allegations against him.

“I want to say that if anybody is desperate in the Oyo political firmament, it should be Governor Ajimobi, who believes that if Barrister Shittu succeeds him, he will be in jail. That is what he is reported to have always told people who mentioned me to him.

“He thinks that I am too principled, firm, unbendable and uncompromising when it comes to the issues of morality. It is he who is desperate to stop me, not me being desperate to become governor.

“The rules are clearly there and like somebody who believes in the rule as a lawyer and man of law and order, if I follow the rules to contest the primaries in a free, fair and credible poll and did not win, I will take up something else.

“I am not desperate to become the governor of Oyo State. It is the other way round because the governor is desperate to stop me for whatever reason.”

The Minister also said the Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s APC Reconciliation Panel  has not extended any invitation to him over the disagreement between him and the governor: “No invitation was extended to me for any purpose of discussions, negotiations, reconciliations or whatever. Nobody can blame me for that.”

He added that the governor has failed in many: “Why is he afraid of going to jail if another Buhari like me comes to power in Oyo State? Why is he afraid of primaries?”

But in a statement by his Special Adviser, Communication and Strategy, Mr. Bolaji Tunji, the governor said the minister should be the one afraid of going to jail.

“In any case, Shittu should be the one that should be afraid of going to jail in view of many allegations made against him as minister. Few of these are his alleged illegally-acquired property in Ibadan and Abuja and sudden unexplainable and stupendous wealth not commensurate with his emoluments.

“In addition, his recent attempt to covert and appropriate a parcel of land belonging to Saki community, which was stoutly resisted by his own people, has shown his level of greed, avarice and penchant for appropriating what does not belong to him.

“Governor Ajimobi remains a distinguished senator of the country who had successfully traversed the corporate world and got to the peak of his career as the Managing Director and Chief Executive of a multinational; a position that requires a high degree of integrity, ability and capability.

“All these attributes have reflected in the way he has successfully managed the affairs of the state in the last seven years, which has transformed the face and fortunes of the state and had attracted unmatched number of investors to the state.”