Osun PDP To Masterminds: Stop Overrating Your Importance, Scavenging Is Not Activism

By Taofik Jimoh

The Osun State chapter of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) has on Tuesday blasted the Osun Masterminds, TOM, over its threat to drag the Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, to the anti-graft agencies over the recently unveiled multi-billion naira infrastructural development plan.

This medium recalled that the state governor unveiled a N100bn infrastructural development plan for the state, which captured the construction of five flyovers, rehabilitation of roads, supply of potable water, rehabilitation of public primary and secondary schools and health facilities.

Prof Wasiu Oyedokun-Alli, Executive Director of TOM, during a press conference had threatened to report the state governor, Ademola Adeleke to the anti-graft agencies by the end of working hours on Monday over the infrastructural development plan.

Oyedokun, who maintained that TOM Is committed to its mandate of advocating good governance, ethical politics and responsible citizenship expressed fear that the state may return to her days of excessive borrowing and financial recklessness

In its reaction on Tuesday, October 31, the Osun PDP advised members of the group to live within the means of their ratings and not overhype their usefulness.

This was contained in a statement by Honourable Ayodeji Areola, Osun State PDP publicity Secretary.

Areola acknowledged that members of the masterminds are at liberty to rue their choice in the last governorship election in the state with all forms of disguised lamentations, "however we hold that such cries must be laced with some levels of reasonability."

He said that TOM should be reminded that Governor Ademola Jackson Nurudeen Adeleke of Osun State towers above the group's irritating method of seeking attention or creating occasional impressions to dig out their usual target crumbs.

"Without fear of sounding arrogant or immodest, masterminds components are too inconsequential in integrity and cognitive clout to injure the growing popularity of a political institution like Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State. When they openly pitched their tent against the election of his Excellency last year, they sank with their tent.

"We make bold to say that none of the elements in the group of adult beggars is close to what they arrogate to themselves. Brutally scavenging around should not be a life of professionalism and that is why their noise can only be deafening in their own room.

"While the PDP administration will be waiting for the anti-graft agencies being dangled around by the unemployment induced jesters, our great party, the PDP will continue to support Governor Ademola Adeleke's robust quest to address the infrastructure deficit in the state.

"The masterminds are enjoined to enrich their protests with the fact that the infra-plans will exceed even the hundred billion naira mark, as other phases of developmental projects are already being mapped out. Therefore, their petitions should not be limited only to the 100 billion phase, they should project into the future.

"True stakeholders in the state have been consulted before His Excellency made public his infra plan. The likes of masterminds are not close to reckoning in terms of consultation of this administration because those who made them consulting partners only ended up as failures.

"For PDP, we are in tune with the refusal of Mr Governor to patronize identified friends of those who ran Osun aground. We found and maintain our stand that it is against the interest of Osun State to open further doors of consultation with incontrovertible purveyors of failure in government, whose major interest is more of personal patronage than collective interest of the populace."


Ayodeji Areola declared that Governor Ademola Adeleke-led administration is too entrenched in his commitment to address the avoidable rot inflicted on the state by friends of the Masterminds. He added that the present administration in Osun is not the type "some professional rogues will attempt to intimidate with some feeble threats of any anti-graft agency just because we are not providing 'soups' as they expected."

He continued: "Or what more! We have noted with amusement, the constant mention of pots of soup by the supposed activists, which presupposes that the heart of the inconsistent wanderers is firmly gazed on patronage of soups rather than genuine love for anyone, not even their next neighbors in the state.

"The anger expressed by' the 'Alagboole Activists' against the state chairman of the ruling party to us, was unnecessary. The chairman reserves every right to support the government of his governor, especially when criticism against such government was coming from non-entities like the masterminds."

I pity