Senator Boroffice battles Akeredolu, accuses gov of polarising, alienating party leaders

SENATOR Ajayi Boroffice representing Ondo North Senatorial district in the National Assembly yesterday pointedly accused governor Rotimi Akeredolu of polarising the party and alienating critical mass of party leadership and supporters in the state. Boroffice who traced the crisis in the party to the aftermath of the 2016 governorship primaries of the party cried out that ” all is not well with the party in Ondo state”.

Governor Akeredolu had fired the first Salvo by declaring that he does not deny the legitimacy of Boroffices position as the senator representing Ondo North senatorial district but that he knows only two APC senators in the state who are currently working with the state government for the upliftment of Ondo State. Responding through his Media Assistant, Kayode Fakuyi, Boroffice in a statement said the governor has not extended any invitation to him to attend any meeting since the inauguration of the governor. Therefore, the issue of turning down any invitation does not arise. Boroffice said ” the attitude of governor to other party leaders in Ondo State, who do not see issues from his perspective, has unfortunately polarized the Ondo State chapter of the party and alienated a critical mass of the party leadership and supporters as well.

The Senator said that” all is not well with All Progressives Congress in the Sunshine State. Rather than embrace the challenges of leadership and reach out to every leader of the party in Ondo State, the governor preferred to run the government of Ondo State and the party with his trifling followership. “He continues to erroneously lay claim to the ownership of the party.He continues to threaten other party leaders with threat of expulsion from the party. “The National Leadership of our great party cannot forget in a hurry the road we had to travel to reach where we are; it is our collective will and unity of purpose that have taken us this far. “To destroy the legacy is to destroy the great bond that binds us together as members of the All Progressives Congress. ” It is our unshakable article of faith that moral justice is an armament of political and socio-economic progress. ” There can be no justice when someone appropriates our common wealth and violates our common law (APC Constitution, 2014 as amended) that binds us together. ” We therefore call on the National Leadership of our great party to urgently intervene in the crisis plaguing the Ondo State chapter of the party.

“We cannot afford to sweep under the carpet issues polarizing the APC in Ondo State as we move into another round of congresses and general elections. “It is for this reason that His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari has called for reconciliation of leaders and resolutions of disputed issues. This is the wise road to travel and we cannot dissent. “Therefore, Senator Boroffice wishes to express full confidence in the Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led presidential committee. We fully support our National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu on this course. He stated that the governors “insinuation and innuendoes suggested that the senator has not been working for the progress and development of Ondo State in general and Ondo North senatorial district in particular was not correct. “Given the several developmental strides that have been spurred by the eventful tenure of the Distinguished Senator, such suggestion of non-performance is wholly incorrect. It is a cherry-picked attempt to taint the senator with bad name in order to hang him. Nothing can be farther from the truth.

“Setting the records straight, the governor has sent two private communications to the Senate since his inauguration as Governor of Ondo State on the 24th of February, 2017, in respect of confirmation of appointments from Ondo State. “In the consideration of the governor’s requests, Senator Boroffice, despite the underlying differences, rallied his colleagues to support Governor Akeredolu’s position in the interest of the good people of Ondo State. Therefore, the suggestion that Senator Boroffice is not working for the upliftment of Ondo State is false and misleading. To debunk that he has not been working for the upliftment of the State, Boroffice highlighted the achievement of Boroffice to include the installation of solar-powered electricity street lights in more than 80 per cent of the 72 wards of Ondo North senatorial district., construction of more than than thirty-five solar-powered boreholes,installed over twenty-five electricity transformers located in various communities of the Ondo North senatorial district.

“It is also on record that Senator Boroffice recently built and commissioned an Obstetric hospital in Iboje Oka to cater for the medical needs of the people Ondo North senatorial district. “In order to aid self-employment generation drive, Senator Boroffice conceived and built three agricultural plants. Cashew processing plant in Ikakuma in Akoko NorthEast Local Government. Biofuel producing plant in Ajowa in Akoko NorthWest Local Government. Five Garri-processing plants were also located at Ipele in Owo LG, Ifira, Iboropa, Ago Oka and Ebo.

“Furthermore, Senator Boroffice has facilitated the construction of three state-of-the-art Skill Acquisition Centres in Ikaram, Oka – Akoko and Ifon in Ose LG. “In the area of formal education, Senator Boroffice built, furnished and commissioned five blocks of classrooms at Ikaro, Oka, Obato and other parts of Ondo North senatorial district. “It is also on record that Senator Boroffice has attracted the following Federal Institutions to Ondo North senatorial district; National Science Laboratory in Akungba, Bioresources Development Centre, Technology Incubation Centre, Regional Centre for Leather Research, National Aerospace Laboratory and Regional Centre for Chemical Technology. 15.

The above stated facts showed that Senator Boroffice has been working for the upliftment of Ondo State before and after the inauguration of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu. The statement said that “The people of Ondo State should be reassured that Senator Boroffice will continue to work for the upliftment of Ondo State and her people. Vanguard