Ajimobi, wife at the centre of a financial scandal

Oyo State governor, AbiolaAjimobi apart from the non-payment of salaries crisis in the state, is battling to clear his family’s name over allegations of money laundering leveled against them. OLUSESAN LAOYE reports

Oyo State is still boiling politically despite the fact that the governor has promised to alleviate the suffering of workers, who are still being owed four months salaries arrears. The issue of non-payment of workers’ salaries, which has created problem for some states, is also biting hard on the Oyo State government. However, beyond the issues of salaries payment, Governor AbiolaAjimobi is battling to clear his family of allegations bothering on money laundering. His long absence from the state recently was attributed to his alleged secret efforts to cover his tracks and clean up his foreign accounts and ensure that his wife does not get the Saraki treatment.

Right now, the opposition is taking advantage of this scenario to discredit the government of Senator AbiolaAjimobi, who has been doing everything possible to rebuild the negative image which the salary issues have created. Ajimobi since his second term has not known peace as he has been under severe attacks from the opposition who had gone to the tribunal to challenge his second term in office. The workers, pensioners, traders and even local government workers have been on his neck accusing him of being insensitive to their plights.

Those who are actually hitting the APC government of Ajimobihard are the workers who have been groaning under hardship. Some of them have been attacking him openly while the pensioners, despite the fact that they have not been paid their entitlements for months,took paid advert on private radiostations in the state to express their disappointment with the government. Labour leaders too have threatened several times to down tool but the state government has always been lucky because of the leaders in the state, who at different times have been wading into the matter to prevent the workers from embarking on industrial action.

On the political side, Ajimobi has three arch enemies who contested the governorship election with him. They are Senator RasidiLadoja, Otunba Adebayo AlaoAkala and Senator TeslimFolarin. Two of them,Ladoja and Akala contested with him twice in 2011 and the last general election in April, while Folarin only contested with Ajimobi in April. The antagonism from these three people who are from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour and Accord parties was too much for Ajimobi to bear. He is now accusing his opponents of using the workers against him.  He (Ajimobi) and his wife Florence are now doing a lot of damage control.

In fact the situation is so critical for him now that there were rumours in the state that he abandoned the state for fear of not being attacked by the workers. Ajimobiis one of the governors who followed President MuhamaduBuhari to the United States of America, but he did not return with the President. He stayed behind until last weekend when he arrived.

Before his arrival there were series of stories behind his staying back. In one of the allegations it was said that he stayed behind to tidy up his foreign accounts issue, so that he would not be reprimanded by President Buhari. It was also alleged that it was a ploy to protect his wife who was at a time alleged to be involved in money laundering. The wife at a period was accused of not staying in the country and that he was travelling to launder money for her husband, Ajimobi. She was alleged to have made over 53 trips to London and other overseas countries within a year.  At a stage, it was alleged that his wife Florence was arrested in London for money laundering.

One of the allegations also had it that Governor Ajimobi’s staying back in the U.S was to ensure that his wife too, did not become a victim of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, probe like the wives of the former Kwara State governor and now Senate President, Mrs. ToyinSaraki and that of the former Kebbi State governor,ZainabSaiduDakingari.

It was said that since the present federal government was not ready to condone corruption and because the wife was not covered by immunity, both Ajimobiand his wife are alleged to be doing everything to cover their tracks and ensure that state’s funds are not traced to their accounts.

Hallmark reports that at the heat of the allegations against Mrs.Ajimobi, she came out to condemn her detractors. One of such instance was when she went to the University Teaching Hospital, UCH to visit those with cancer at the Mammography Suit of the hospital. She was then, led to the cancer patients by Professor TemitopeAlonge. While she was narrating her ordeal in London, she actually said that what she experienced there, made her to be very strong and more careful. She further said that it was funny to hear what people say about you without finding out the truth. She pointed out that she normally travel to UK every three weeks to see her 14 year old daughter, adding that she can’t because she is a governor’s wife abandon her responsibility as a mother.

She argued that her children have been residing in London before they were voted into the governorship seat of Oyo State, while pointing out that her son too lives in Birmingham. She further said that the way she was portrayed indicated that she was not actually living in Nigeria. “You can now see the extent to which people can go to black mail you.’’

One of the issues which the people of the state especially the workers had with Senator Ajimobi was his declaration that only half of the state’s work force voted for him,saying that he won the election through the help of God. He debunked the speculations that he was trying to retaliate for not paying workers because, they did not vote for him.

According to him if 50 percent of workers voted for him and he won the election, then he has every reason to be grateful as nobody will be neglected for not voting for him. He was of the opinion that workers in the state are not always pleased, adding that generally people don’t want change. He said that without change there can’t be development.

With the pressure and the blackmail which is being mounted on the governor and the wife, they both appeared to be on top of the situation,with assurances to the people of the state that they are still very much in control. The wife held a special service in Ibadan where she assured the workers that her husband would not relent in making sure that their welfare was paramount to him. The special service which was a replica of the previous ones she held, while her husband was gunning for a second term and when he eventually won the election thereby breaking the second term jinx, was mostly attended by women.

Also at the same time, Ajimobi held a news conference to intimate the people of the state about his plan for the workers, and how he would pay them backlog of salaries owed them. Ajimobi pointed out that he has earmarked N2billion for the payment of junior workers’ salaries, while he confirmed that he has received N 2.3 billion from the Liquefied National Gas, LNG.

As at now, the total salary package of workers in the state has risen to N4.6billioin. On the several reasons being speculated for his staying behind in the U.S, Ajimobi said that he did not come with President Buhari because there was the need for him to meet investors, who are willing to come to Oyo State.

He pointed out that his mission was successful, saying that based on his meeting with them, some have agreed to come to Oyo state to invest, a situation which would further transform the state industrially and create employment for the people, especially the youths.

While reacting to the crisis of non-payment of workers in the state, the chairman of the PDP,AlhajiOlayinkaTaiwo, asked the state governor to cut down his excesses. He said that one of the things that would help the state was for Ajimobi to cut his security vote of N200million per month. He also wanted the governor to declare his assets, saying that this would help the people to monitor and update what have now become his assets before he became the governor, now that he is spending his second term in office.

He was also of the opinion that Ajimobi has brought the state down from what it used to be, adding that the state was better managed under the PDP led governments. AlhajiTaiwo argued that Ajimobi should not take the issue of assets declaration lightly because this would help to clarify some of the issues about the finances of the state and what he and his family actually worth in the eyes of the people of the state.

Meanwhile the special adviser to the governor on Information and Strategy, Dr. Festus Adedayo has said that all the allegations, rumours and insinuations about the APC government of governor Ajimobi were sponsored by the opposition. He pointed out that despite what they are saying and their sponsored attack on the government, Ajimobi has always come out strong without allowing them to distract his focus in providing what it best for the people of the state. He argued that so far in the history of Oyo State, the government of senator Ajimobi “is still the best’’.