Ondo: Ajayi, Ex-Dep.Gov, Confirms He Lied; Returns Three Vehicles |The Source

By Charles Igbo

The immediate past Deputy Governor of Ondo State, Mr Agboola Ajayi, on Monday, not only swallowed his vomit, he also put a lie to his earlier claims concerning the number of Government vehicles in his custody. In so doing, however, Ajayi saved himself a possible embarrassment.

Ajayi, in the past couple of weeks had been arguing back and forth with the Ondo State Government over the number of Government vehicles he took home at the end of his tenure in office.

Ajayi had had a turbulent relationship with the Governor of the State, Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN, in his last months of his stay in office.It led to his resignation from the political party under which both came into office – the All Progressives Congress, APC.

But Ajayi did not quit his office as DG inspite of the pressure piled on him, reminding him how morally wrong it was for him to quit the party, and hold onto the office.

He first defected to the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, and when he was not given the Governorship ticket as he had expected, he quit the PDP, and defected to the Zenith Labour Party, ZLP, under which he contested for the office of the Governor. He came a distant fourth, while Akeredolu overwhelmingly won a second term in office.

But two months after Ajayi left office at the expiration of his tenure as DG, he held unto his official vehicles, refusing to return them to the Government. He ignored a number of letters and reminders asking him to return the vehicles, allegedly, numbering four, in his custody.

When the State Government threatened to report him to the Police, he rebuffed the threat. When a report was eventually made to the Police, he said he was waiting for an invitation from the Police.

In a statement, he claimed he had only two vehicles in his custody, and that he was entitled to them as a former DG. But the State Government in its response said there was no such law in the State which entitled him to the vehicles.

Last week, Ajayi budged after the Government threatened to embarrass him, and after he, reportedly, received an ultimatum from the Police. He agreed to return the two vehicles he claimed were in his custody.

On Monday, April 26, Ajayi finally returned not two, but three  vehicles – one short of the four vehicles the  Government insists he has and one, more than he claimed he had.

Speculation is that he returned the vehicles to avoid the threat of Governor Akeredolu who had threatened to embarrass him over them. The Governor had been on a two-week vacation, and resumed on Monday.

In a statement dated April 26, announcing the return of three vehicles by Ajayi, the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Donald Ojogo, who signed it  disclosed that  the Government was waiting  for the return of, perhaps, other Government properties in Ajayi’s custody. He, also, thanked the Police for their intervention – meaning that Ajayi was forced to return them.

The Statement reads:

“Three vehicles in the custody of the immediate past Deputy Governor have been retrieved by the Ondo State Government. These include a Toyota Landcruiser Jeep, V8, 2019 model and two Toyota Hilux vans also of  2019 model.

“While efforts are on to recover any other remaining vehicle(s) still in possession of the former Deputy Governor, Government expresses gratitude to the

security agencies, especially the Police, for the most-needed intervention.”

Will this be the last of Ajayi’s   tangle with the State Government? Or, is this the beginning? Time will tell.