Oyo State governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde has been advised to let his actions be guided by constitutional provisions and the rule of law.
In a statement issued by Dr Azeez Olatunde, the Party’s Publicity Secretary , the APC viewed the statement credited to the governor that he would review all the appointments and promotions made by his predecessor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi from March 11 to May 28 as ill-advised in what is turning out to be the hallmark of the administration in the few days since it assumed power in the State.
“APC views the decision of the governor as a reflection of the new government’s ignorance of constitutional matters. The Governor should know and be advised that all the decisions made by Senator Ajimobi were within his constitutional rights to do as the sitting governor. His mandate only ended on May 28 and actions taken while he held the mandate were within his right as governor and within the letters of the constitution.”
The party frowned at the decision of Governor Makinde to reverse the promotion of the Permanent Secretaries (PS) but refused to reverse that of the Head of Service who incidentally is the wife of an ally of the governor. “ For someone who professes to be the people’s governor, his action does not reflect this. By that decision, he has taken away the happiness and celebration by the newly promoted PS. His action could also be likened to the decision to dissolve the legally elected local government administration. How would he feel if someone takes his mandate from him through executive fiat as he has done? For a man who professes godliness, his actions are antithetical to what he professes. The APC is of the opinion that he wants to play politics with that action, that is why he took the decision, forgetting that these newly promoted PS are deserving of the promotion. It is ill-advised, it is ungodly and negates his professed love for the masses. The PS are first and foremost citizens of the State whom he professed to love”.
According to the Publicity Secretary, the actions taken by the governor, apart from being unconstitutional, also reflect impatience and overzealousness. “Governor Makinde seems to be forgetting that he has a four-year mandate, he should therefore reflect deeply on his actions before they are carried out.
“What he has done clearly shows the impunity that was the hallmark of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) before the progressives brought sanity into governance. Oyo State and Nigeria should not go back to that era. The years of locust.”
