Florence, widow of
ex- Oyo Governor Abiola Ajimobi, was angry about how the Oyo State government
led by Seyi Makinde treated her husband in the last one month of his illness.
The widow, however,
made her feelings known when she received a delegation led by the Oyo Deputy
Governor, Mr. Rauf Olaniyan at their Oluyole residence.
Other delegations
and Governors were also present at the scene.
The visibly angry
widow denied ever contacting Makinde or anybody in government for any kind of
support during the illness of her husband, which eventually resulted in his
death.
The former first
lady, who acknowledged she was not supposed to talk, said she decided to break
her silence since his husband fell ill about a month ago and died last Thursday
because of misgivings emanating from the government.
She appealed to the
government to stop what she described as dirty politics.
she said her late
husband was for peace and served the state for eight years making him deserve
better treatment even in death.
She said: “Although
I should not be the one speaking but I just want to clear the air on a lot of
misgivings that has been spreading.
“On behalf of my
late husband, children and the entire Ajimobi’s family, I want to sincerely
thank you for all your support at this very crucial point of our lives.
“My husband is not a
very difficult man but thank God we are here today. For me, when things like
this happen, I want to pick up something. It is a time for everyone of us to
reflect on our lives because death is a necessary end. It will come when it will
come. We don’t know who is next and we don’t know when our time will come.
“Either you are a
Christian or a Muslim, both religions teach love and peace and I am glad that
the Deputy Governor of Oyo State is here because I need to put some records
straight. It is the first time I’m going to make any public announcement or
statement since my husband actually died.
“I opened the papers
a couple of days ago and I saw the Oyo State Government writing a lot of
things.
“Your Excellency,
the Deputy Governor of Oyo State, for the avoidance of misinformation to the
public and damage to the image of my husband because my husband is a
peace-loving person. He lived for peace passionately.
“My husband took ill
on the 22nd of May and he was hospitalised and I was reading in the papers that
the Governor of Oyo State, His Excellency Seyi Makinde, claimed he called me.
But he didn’t.”
Referring to the
Deputy Governor, she said “I don’t have your number and I have never spoken
with you on phone. But it’s important we put the records straight because this
is a family of politicians and I don’t want anybody to tarnish my husband’s
name and well my husband is gone. It could be me or anyone else tomorrow.
“Life in itself is
vanity upon vanity. Either you are PDP or APC, the man is dead and he has been
buried.
“But the Governor
didn’t call me. Even if he had called me and I didn’t pick his calls, I don’t
have his number and I have never spoken with him on the phone. He could have
sent me a text message for record purposes.
“And then today
again, I read in the papers and saw how the Ajimobi’s family was lying about
something again
“Mr Deputy, my
husband never had anything against the Governor or anyone else. We were in
different parties but he was an elder stateman and he slept on the ground.
“The Governor of Oyo
State never called me nor sent a condolence message, my husband was
hospitalised for one month. What politics are we playing, please?
“Life is short, I’m
a Christian and my husband is a Muslim, we all should let the fear of God guide
us in whatever we are doing. Ajimobi is gone today. Whatever he does doesn’t
matter to me. It doesn’t matter to me as his wife and his widow. I’m going to
mourn and respect my husband’s wishes and that was what I did today, laid him
to rest peacefully.
“I don’t want any
controversy. Everything I read in the papers, I just swallowed them all and let
it go. So, please, the press are here, we never had any rift with the Governor
with the state government. I never dialogued with them. I never contacted them
nor sent them a word because I didn’t know it was necessary for me to send
official messages that my husband was hospitalised.
“I didn’t send
messages to Governor Fayemi. I didn’t send to Governor Ganduje. I didn’t send
to Lagos State Governor, I didn’t send messages to anybody because it was all
over the social media and they knew that my husband was ill.
“I think the least
anybody can do as a God-fearing person was at least to send me a word of
encouragement at that time. And even after he died. Not even you Mr Deputy
Governor called. If you had called me as you claimed and I didn’t pick, you
could have at least sent me a message Sir.
“I don’t have your
number, I am the wife of a politician, I don’t pick numbers that I don’t know
Sir. You can send a message. Everybody is going to die. My husband is dead and
he served this state for eight good years.
“Are you saying he didn’t contribute anything to this state
and you could not honour him for a second? The man is dead and I need to put
the record straight. I don’t want anybody, any government to tarnish my
husband’s image. He was a peace loving man. And he played his role and he’s
gone.”
“Nobody can be on the stage for so long. You come, play your
roles and you leave. Somebody else comes. I pray for Governor Seyi Makinde to
succeed because that is the only time I would say that my husband succeeded.
“So, please let’s put the record straight. I never had any
interactions with Governor Seyi Makinde, he did not contact the family and that
is the fact. His deputy Governor is here, he did not even send me a text
message and I don’t have your number and I don’t pick calls from numbers that I
don’t know. So, please let’s stop dirty politics.”
However, the quick intervention of Kano Governor Umar
Ganduje, who quickly called for prayers for the repose of the soul of the late
Governor, put the matter to rest.
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