Stop politicizing people’s grief, Oyo urges Akinjide

The Oyo State Government has accused the Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory, Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide, of politicizing the relief materials sent to the victims of the recent rainstorm that wreaked havoc in the state.
The Oyo State Government stated this in a statement by the Special Assistant to Governor Abiola Ajimobi on Media, Tunde Muraina.
Akinjide had accused the state government of vacillating in the distribution of the relief materials.
But the state government accused Akinjide of merely taking advantage of the pains of the people to score cheap political point.
The statement said: “The accusation is wrong. We are not surprised at Ms. Akinjide’s condemnation. Oyo people always see her at moments like this, with her politicized and momentary sympathy aimed at gaining undue and undeserved place in the hearts of the people, but the people of Oyo state know who really is their friend at moments of grief.”
The statement said that the government, rather than “emergency crocodile tears” merchants, was on ground to offer its shoulders to the victims.
The statement added: “While Ms. Akinjide was in the comfort of her office in Abuja, as the rainstorm wreaked its havoc, on the second day of the storm, Governor Ajimobi abandoned every other duty to visit the victims at Olomi. He was there till dusk and even promised to construct a brand new road for them.
“On Thursday, the governor was again at Ona Ara, where he did a symbolic presentation to the victims relief materials that were presented by the Oyo government and NEMA, even though the officials inexplicably absented themselves. He did not leave Ona Ara until late in the night.”
Accusing officials of the National Emergency Management Agency of acting a script from Akinjide, the Peoples Democratic Party and Accord party, the government said it wanted to avert a situation where the relief materials landed in the hands of prominent PDP faithful, at the expense of the victims.
The government said: “From all indications, NEMA in the state was flirting with the opposition with a view to rubbishing the govt. Its officials are apparently pandering to some political interests. The leadership of the Agency in the state was, during the week, controlled by one Accord House of Rep member from Oluyole, Olaifa who insisted he must call the shot of the distribution. We insisted that it was better to have the number of the actual victims, rather than having the materials in the hands of privileged few.”
The state government said that all the consignments brought by the Agency were received by the local governments, stating that NEMA wanted to distribute the materials in three local government, without assessment, one of which was not affected, rather than to the affected five councils.
The government said that the first phase of the items it was distributing to the victims comprised 200 bundles of corrugated iron sheets, 4,000 packets of nails, 4,000 bags of cement, 500 bags of nails, 3,000 planks, 2,000 bags of rice, 500 blankets and 500 mosquito nets.