The Chief Press Secretary to the Oyo State Governor, Mr Taiwo Adisa, on Saturday explained why the governor, Mr Seyi Makinde, had yet to personally visit the Ibarapa and Oke Ogun areas of the state.
The areas have recently witnessed some crisis following the eviction order issued to Fulani residents by a Yoruba rights activist, Sunday Adeyemo, aka Sunday Igboho.
Adisa said the governor would not jump the gun by altering the processes that must be followed in ensuring that the sensitive matters on the ground were addressed through a pragmatic approach.
He said the governor not showing up physically in the troubled areas did not suggest that he had not fully taken charge of his duty as the chief security officer of the state.
While reacting to allegations in some quarters that the governor left the state for a meeting in Akure, Ondo State, while Igangan and adjoining communities within his jurisdiction were in a crisis, he said those who held such an opinion had muddled up facts and reasons.
Adisa said, “The allegation that the governor went to Akure while he has not gone to Ibarapa is like mixing apples with oranges. The meeting in Akure was a South-West meeting which involved governors of different states of the North and the delegation from the President (Maj-Gen Muhammadu Buhari (retd.)) and all the security agencies of the states of the South-West.
“You don’t leave the meeting of the Nigeria Governor’s Forum for a meeting that would take place within the corridors of Oyo State. The governor had sent two powerful delegations to Ibarapa and Oke Ogun areas within one week and immediately after the incident when somebody issued a threat.
“The governor had been fully briefed on what is happening in Ibarapa. He had also called the meeting of all the local government chairmen and political leaders in that area, which was why he came up with the security strategy to deal with the situation in Ibarapa as he did few days ago. That he has not gone to Ibarapa or Oke Ogun does not mean he is not working on the issue in the axis.
