The former Commissioner for Information, Banji Ayiloge has been accused by the Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu for peddling falsehood and lies against his administration.
Banji Ayiloge is one of the aspirants under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) vying for the party’s guber ticket in Ondo state.
The governor acknowledged the right of Ayiloge to aspire to the highest political position in the state, stressing that this the beauty of democracy but stated clearly that he will not succumb to blackmail.
In a statement signed and made available to journalists by the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the governor on Media, Ojo Oyewamide disclosed that “Akeredolu has not, and will not find enthralling, any undemocratic arrangement whereby he is seen to be the only governorship contender. Such is no longer a contest.”
On Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), the governor said: “A major part of the vision of this administration is how to boost the IGR of the state.
“Governor Akeredolu believes that government cannot do much with poor IGR. A former staff of WEMA Bank, Mr. Tolu Adegbie, was appointed by the governor as the chairman of Ondo State Internal Revenue Service after emerging the best in a screening exercise conducted for applicants who sought the job.
He added: “Although, the state is yet to attain her target, it is heartwarming to inform the public that the State IGR is no longer crawling. We have improved from N700m to an average of N1.5billion monthly.
“Unfortunately, Ayiloge is not interested in the productivity of the revenue generation agency and commendable feat it has achieved within the last two years. Rather, the former Commissioner for Information mischievously elected to play politics by falsely linking Governor Akeredolu’s son with the now vibrant organisation.
“This is preposterous and most unexpected of an elder whose passion for self aggrandizement has overshadowed reasoning.
Also on infrastructure, the governor said: “We would have inferred Ayiloge’s comment on infrastructure in the state either shows self abnegation or unkindness to self. However, it imperative to state that the Akeredolu government, which came on board in 2017, began its infrastructural projects in Ifedore Local Government Area. Ayiloge hails from Ifedore.”