Son of Oyo Head of Service in ‘ghost jobs’ scandal

Ayo Agboola, son of the Oyo State Head of Service, Lola Agoola, is enmeshed in accusations of ghost workers racketeering in the state.

Mrs, Agoola was appointed as the Head of Service by a former Governor of Oyo State, Abiola Ajimobi, who came into power on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, in May 2019.

It was gathered that before his mother was appointed as the Head of Service, Ayo had allegedly discussed the issue of ghost workers slots with his friend, who is a Twitter user, Sulaimon Adesola, with the handle: @advsola.

Adesola said Ayo promised to include his name in a list of “ghost workers” in Oyo State.

The crisis between Agboola and Adesola started when both of them disagreed online over the response of the Oyo State Government to the coronavirus pandemic.

Ayo said his friend’s criticism of the Seyi Makinde Administration, elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, but which retained Agboola as Head of Service, was because he could not secure a “ghost job” under the government.

Adesola, however, said it was Ayo who promised to use his mother’s influence to secure him a slot.

He posted screenshots of their chats, which compelled Ayo to admit they had such discussion.

However, Ayo in his reaction to the issue through his verified Twitter handle: @dondekojo, said: “Sometime in February last year, @advsola approached me to help him with any gig, as the current gig he was working with me ended, he suggested A Government gig that can keep him less busy.

“I joked with him that it’s impossible for me to do and he should ask his APC friends as they were in power locally in my state and nationally, I then said I’m sure that they’d give him ghost worker gig anyway.

“He went on to say that they are not reliable and asked if I can help, I told him I doubt it’s possible but to keep his hopes alive, I said I’ll ask someone. I don’t know anyone involved in this, never asked.

“He kept pestering me as seen in shots shared earlier for this gig and I kept egging him on because he was doing some pro-bono work for me at the time, he pestered me for several months.

“Last night, during a heated debate, he brought it up after I said he should go and meet “Ajimobi’s Govt” for a job, immediately he did this I knew he was about to blackmail myself and possibly my mother.

“I shared the time stamps above to exonerate her from this as she didn’t have any Govt role at the time we discussed this and from the screenshots he shared earlier, you can see he was pestering as early as April last year.

“I want to state categorically that I know nothing about any racketeering scheme, I only egged someone I assumed was a friend on because he was doing pro bono work and I admit I should have been clearer to him as he started pestering.”

Ayo is the son of Hosea Agboola, the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs during the regime of Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala as Governor of Oyo State from 2007 to 2011.

Hosea went on to represent Oyo North Senatorial District between 2011 and 2015.

He is a leading chieftain of the PDP in the state and a close ally of Makinde.

The then Deputy Chief Whip of the Senate was the Chairman of the 10-man transition committee of the PDP named by the Chief of Staff to Makinde, Chief Bisi Ilaka, which saw to the process of taking over from the Ajimobi APC-led Government.