Aregbesola distracted by crisis instigated in Osun — Gov aide

The Special Adviser on Education to Osun State governor, Mr Jamiu Olawumi, has said the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, is distracted from doing his job by the crises he caused in Osun state.

Olawumi made this  comment on Tuesday while speaking on Rave FM. He advised the Federal Government and the Independent National Electoral Commission against the use of the men of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps for monitoring the 2022 governorship poll in the state.

He suggested being an organisation under the Ministry of Interior, it would not be appropriate to use men of the corps to monitor the election in Osun.

Olawuni said,  “INEC should listen and FG should take heed to what I want to say. The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps is been misrepresented in certain functions in Osogbo. They will not be able to supervise the election here come next year because we are seeing some people, perhaps fake Civil Defence officers, carrying guns and covering their events.

“It is the Police, by law, to cover events. It is the duty of the NSCDC to monitor pipelines and petrol chemical substances. Any agency that is being supervised by the Ministry of Interior will be difficult to supervise elections here.

“What is happening in Osun State is also affecting the Federal Government. How many prisoners have we lost to the crowd? 4000. We have never had it so bad in Nigeria because he has distracted himself with happenings in Osun. The Minister for Interior is distracted. He has capacity but is distracted. Prisoners are jumping fences and he is helpless.

“He is distracted by the crisis he is instigating in Osun. In this crisis, you can not find any masquerade behind it other than Ogbeni Aregbesola. By the time they bring a fake uniform person to Osun, it will not only affect APC, but it will also affect PDP. That is why I am shouting out now because somebody is trying to dig a hole on the ship of progress while on the deep sea.”

Responding to the statement, the Special Assistance to the mMinister in Media, Sola Fasure, said Olawumi is in no position to determine the agency of government that would monitor the election in the state.

He said, “On the frequent attack on correctional facilities in the country, he is not talking from the position of knowledge. What is happening is not jailbreak, but an attack on correction facilities and it is novel. The facilities were not designed to deal with such attacks with the military ordinance and other heavy military equipment.

“But now, the ministry is dealing with the menace. Measures have been put in place to curtail it. He (Olawumi) has no right to determine which agency will be involved in election duty as long as it is within the responsibility of the agency. His views were actually laughable.”