Grounding my helicopter was primitive - Oshiomhole

Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State open up over the grounding of his chartered helicopter to attend solidarity rally for Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State describing the action of federal government as primitive and ill-conceived.

Speaking on a television programme, Oshiomhole said the rally “was a scheduled rally and Kayode is my friend besides being a Governor. I got to the airport and was told that sorry, we got instructions from above that you can’t fly to Ekiti, I was even told that I can’t fly to Akure and go by road to Ekiti.

“It was very unfortunate because you have overzealous persons, it may not be coming from what they referred to as above because the man in charge of this Nigerian project today who is in the driver’s seat is the President and I do not think that President Jonathan will order anybody to prevent people from going to campaign. But you have people who think they love the ruling party more than the chief of the party.

“For me it was quite embarrassing, I didn’t see what value it added, if anything, it raises the doubts about the preparedness of the authorities to allow a level-playing field. I have the right to go to any part of Nigeria and if you can stop a Governor, you treat him as a miscreant, it’s not about me, it’s about the office, and then you reduce the country to something close to a banana republic.

“These things happen all the time, that’s why I always argue that we need strong institutions rather than strong personalities. When institutions like the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency are strong, even the Minister cannot order those responsible for the airport to be co-opted into their political game, because they are supposed to do their jobs professionally.

“But because we have weak institutions where the Minister can hire and fire, the Minister of State or even a Director who wants to show that he loves the ruling party more than anyone else will give those orders. There is no right-thinking mind who will think that by preventing some of us from attending that rally; it will make such a significant difference to the outcome of the Ekiti election. It was a primitive ill-conceived approach.”

 

Copyright – Leadership

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Grounding my helicopter was primitive - Oshiomhole