Wife of late governor of Oyo State, Abiola Ajimobi, Florence, has accused the administration of incumbent Governor Seyi Makinde, of abandoning her family during her late husband’s illness and death.
The late Ajimobi was believed to have had a frosty relationship with Governor Makinde since the latter succeeded him as governor of Oyo in 2019.
As a result of that strained relationship, it was alleged that the Oyo State Government refused to allow Ajimobi to be buried on a land under contention between the two parties.
Recall that in February 2020, the late Ajimobi sued Governor Makinde over the revocation of his landed property at Agodi Government Reservation Area, in Ibadan, after the state government claimed the property violated the Land Use Act.
Ajimobi had stated that the land was donated to him by ‘Alhaji Alao’ and was legally acquired by him through the relevant government agency.
It was in the course of that battle that Ajimobi took ill and eventually died.
In a statement, on Saturday, Governor Makinde said his administration broke the law to allow Ajimobi’s burial at a Government Residential Area, on Sunday.
But accussing the state government of being unfair to her family, Mrs. Ajimobi while receiving deputy governor of Oyo State, Rauf Olaniyan, Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State and Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, on Sunday, said they had been “abandoned by those, who should care.”
In a video that had since gone viral, Mrs. Ajimobi revealed that during her late husband’s ailment, none of the current Oyo State Government officials called her or checked on the family.
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She said, “The Government of Oyo State cannot call me or send a condolence message.
“Governor Makinde never called me. I don’t know if I have to send official letter to the government to announce that my husband was ill.
“I never sent to Governor Fayemi, Governor Ganduje or others. Even you the deputy governor, sir.”
Olaniyan quickly interjected to say he called her mobile number a few times but that she did not respond.
Cutting in sharply, Mrs. Ajimobi said, “You should have sent me a text message.
“I don’t have your number, I can’t pick up, I’m the wife of a politician, I don’t pick numbers I don’t know, you could have sent me a message, sir.
“Everybody is going to die. My husband is dead.
“My husband is dead and he served this state for eight years, what are we talking about.”
The seeming bad blood between the grieving family and administration of Governor Makinde took a new twist on Monday when spokesperson for the late Ajimobi, Bolaji Tunji, accused the Oyo State Government of not according his late principal the respect he deserves.
In a few lines that perhaps expresses the reasoning of the family, Tunji said, “Any attempt to spin falsehood against the Ajimobi family will not fly. We know what we know.
“If as you claimed that you could not get through by calls, what stops you from sending text. That would exonerate you. No one should play politics here.
“Flags at half mast for a day? Nonsense. After eight years of service. Even for each of the terms would give you two days. It is the least you could have done.
“So, what stopped an obituary adverts in the newspaper, or you could not get in touch with the newspapers too? Foolish, irrational excuse. Those excuses will not fly. You cannot now start to whitewash what is not.”
