Former executive chairman of Ogbomoso North Local Government Area and federal House of Representatives candidate for Ogbomoso North/Ogbomoso South/Oriire constituency on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Hon. Olamijuwonlo Alao-Akala has cautioned Engr. Muftau Open Salawu of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to stop dropping his father’s name in a distressed bid to salvage his shaky political future.
Open Salawu, in a statement released to journalists on Monday, said that there was what he called inflammatory battle between the late former governor Adebayo Alao-Akala and 2023 governorship candidate of the APC, adding that the Ogbomoso-born politician would have supported incumbent governor Seyi Makinde’s re-election bid.
Reacting to the statement, Olamijuwonlo said he did not hold anything against the former chieftain of APC, nonetheless advised him against using the name of his father to drive a personal ambition.
According to him, Folarin’s works would have been easier were Alao-Akala alive as he would have been in the forefront activating old networks.
“Leader was one of the closest politicians to my dad until he breathed his last”
“To put the record straight, Engr. Mufutau Open Salawu is someone I know, especially as he is my kinsman. I didn’t want to say this but I have to say it for posterity sake. Engr. Open Salawu was never a member of the Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala’s political dynasty. So, I wonder where he got the information that my father and Sen. Folarin were fighting before his demise earlier this year.
“If it is a joke, he should please stop it. My father was a peace-loving person and would say things as they were not minding whose ox was gored. While he didn’t have anything personal against Governor Seyi Makinde, Otunba would never do anything anti-party. Wherever he was, he identified with proudly. So, for Engr. Open Salawu to have said that statement was not only mischievous but also nonsensical.
“If there was one governorship aspirant who was close to my late dad, it was Sen. Teslim Folarin. Yes, Otunba was the leader of the APC in the state before his demise, Sen. Folarin, not minding the distance between Ogbomoso and Ibadan, was a regular visitor to our homes in Ibadan, Ogbomoso, Lagos and Abuja. Maybe because Engr. Mufutau stays much outside Yorubaland, he doesn’t know some things. As a matter of fact, I was not aware of any meeting between him and my dad where such issue was discussed and it is safe to say that he lied.
“Even those who are not in politics as well as those who were not close to the workings of the APC then knew who was closer to Otunba. Engr. Open Salawu must have been jolted that nobody missed him since he left for the PDP. And since he couldn’t realize his ambition to be Governor Seyi Makinde’s running mate, he has gone hiding. So now that he looked for what to give him leverage, he decided to drop Otunba’s name.
“We don’t have anything against him. He has the rights to associate with anyone he wishes to, we advise he leaves our family’s names out of anything he wants to achieve outside the APC. If he wants to use my father’s names, he should join his party. He should devise ways to campaign for the candidates of his choice without mentioning Otunba’s names,” Olamijuwonlo added.
