A former Governor of Osun State, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, has adduced reasons why his predecessor, Chief Bisi Akande, lost his reelection bid.
Oyinlola, who defeated Akande in the 2003 governorship election, offered the reasons in a statement he issued on Thursday.
The Peoples Democratic Party chieftain issued the statement in reaction to the allegation by Akande, who came into office on the platform of the Alliance for Democracy, that the election that threw him up was rigged.
Akande, a former Interim National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, levelled the accusation in his book: “My Participations.”
Oyinlola said two major reasons accounted for the defeat of Akande.
The first, according to the statement, was his face-off with virtually every strata of the society once he assumed office.
He said: “Chief Akande said the 2003 governorship election in Osun State was rigged in my favour.
“Chief Akande has repeatedly told this lie.
“The truth is known to everybody in the state that Akande lost the state shortly after he took over in 1999 and started fighting every one in the state.
“He sacked thousands of workers and did not pay their entitlements.
“In some instances, the retrenched persons included husband, wife and children.
“He owed those who were not sacked months of unpaid salaries which I inherited and paid.
“He deducted 20 percent of workers salaries to fund his projects.
“He fought obas, chiefs and religious groups and leaders.
“He sacked the press from government activities, blocked the only access road to NTA Osogbo and locked the gate of the Government House against even press correspondents in the state.
“He had no word of succor for his victims.
“These were the ingredients that cooked his defeat in 2003.
“But it is convenient for him to blame his defeat on everyone else apart from himself.
“I defeated him comprehensively in all local governments in the state apart from his home council area.
“Again, the details are in my forthcoming book.”
The second issue was the face-off between Akande and his Deputy, Chief Iyiola Omisore, Prince Oyinlola said.
According to Oyinlola, he had warned Akande against any face-off with his deputy.
He said: “I am happy Chief Akande described me in his book as his younger brother.
“I also hold him in very high esteem.
“That was why I counselled him at the beginning of his administration when he came to my house in Okuku, around June 1999, that the easiest way to destroy a state government was to draw a wedge between a governor and his deputy.
“I told him to watch out and prevent this from happening.
“He told me anyone dreaming of coming between him and his deputy, Otunba Iyiola Omisore, would be wasting their time.
“The rest is history.”