27 June 2008
Lagos — GOVERNOR Olugbenga Daniel of Ogun State yesterday alleged that some political office holders from the state holding national positions were working against the interest of the state despite their attainment of the positions through the instrumentalities of the state.
Some of them, he said, were not only using their position for self-aggrandisement but also unnecessarily heating up the polity.
Inaugurating the re-constituted 64-member Ogun State Council of Obas at the Valley View Auditorium of the Government House in Abeokuta, the state capital, Governor Daniel appealed to the royal fathers to bring the "political gladiators" back to the path of rectitude.
The governor said: "Having just come out of a well-fought and resoundingly won election, we thought that we would have some period of respite from politicking when we would focus on issues of governance and development.
"However, we are all living witnesses to the fact that not quite a year after the last elections, political gladiators are back on the field, some of them seeking to use the advantage of the positions that our state fought so hard to secure for them," he said.
According to him: "What our people legitimately expect is that those who find themselves in exalted positions will use these positions for the benefit of the people and the advancement of the interests of our state.
"Our peoples' expectation is not that our sons and daughters should use their position for self-aggrandisement or to unnecessarily heat up the polity in a way that deflects us from pursuit of development.
Inaugurating the new council, Daniel said there would be nine permanent members from each of the four geo-political divisions and would join the four paramount rulers to make up the 64-member council.
The council has a three-year fixed term. The chairmanship is to be rotated among the Alake of Egbaland, who will take the first shot; then the Awujale of Ijebuland, Akarigbo of Remoland and the Olu of Ilaro, in that order.
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