Oyo Gov. Makinde has not fulfilled promises he made to me – Lanlehin cries out

Gubernatorial candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in the 2019 general elections in Oyo state, Senator Olufemi Lanlehin, has said that Governor Seyi Makinde is yet to fulfill any of the promises made to him as contained in the gentleman’s agreement they reached.

We gathered that Lanlehin of ADC, Chief Sharafadeen Abiodun Alli of Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) and Chief Bolaji Ayorinde of Social Democratic Party (SDP), few days to the election jettisoned their ambition by supporting Makinde to win the election.

The trio were persuaded by a former Governor of the state, Senator Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja to support Makinde who later defeated the All Progressives Congress (APC), candidate, Mr. Adebayo Adelabu in the March 9th gubernatorial election.
During a joint press conference addressed by the political gladiators in Ibadan where it was agreed to support Makinde, an agreement was said to have been reached by Makinde and those who jettisoned their ambitions.
But, barely eight months after the agreement was reached, one of those who jettisoned their ambitions, Lanlehin has accused the Governor of failing to fulfil some of the agreements reached.

Lanlehin, in a statement entitled “Makinde Yet to Fulfill Promises” which he personally signed and made available to us in Ibadan, the state capital, on Wednesday, clarified that he did not request nor was he given any financial compensation for surrendering his mandate to support Makinde to upstage the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.
He said rather than request anything from Makinde for withdrawing for him, he further committed his own resources to the prosecution of the governorship election won by Makinde of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He said the inability of Makinde to honour the terms of their agreement might have been occasioned by “the very busy and demanding schedule of his state duties.”

He said, “I remain a committed member of ADC whose members worked assiduously and tirelessly in installing the Makinde government and expect participation in same as agreed before the said gubernatorial election.
“Candidate Seyi Makinde (as he then was) made some promises to me as the incumbent candidate of my party ADC. I willingly and absolutely agreed to surrender my gubernatorial mandate in the common interest of the people of Oyo State.
“I did not request and was not given any financial compensation for so surrendering the mandate, but committed further resources to the gubernatorial election.
“Up till date, Governor Makinde has not fulfilled any of the terms of the agreement reached between him and myself. I believe Makinde has not been able to fulfill the terms of the gentleman’s agreement between us (myself and himself) due to the very busy and demanding schedule of his state duties,” the statement said.
Lanlehin explained that he withdrew for Makinde to prevent a recurrence of the 2015 experience when all opposition parties could not pick one among them to sack the APC from office, leading to the emergence of Governor Abiola Ajimobi for a second term with just 32 per cent of the total votes cast.