• Drop in percentage of women in cabinet worrisome – CSO
Following Governor Ademola Adeleke’s nomination of the wife of his late elder brother, Mrs. Adenike Folashade Adeleke and two former commissioners who served with ex-Governor Rauf Aregbesola, as commissioners and special advisers, there is uproar in Osun State.
The Nation recalled that the speaker of the state House of Assembly had read the names of nominees sent by the governor for screening.
Two allies of Aregbesola of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Kolapo Alimi and Biyi Odunlade, are part of the nominees. Alimi and Odunlade had worked against reelection of ex-governor Adegboyega Oyetola of the APC, using a faction named The Osun Progressives (TOP). Alimi later decamped to the PDP while Odunlade was still in APC till he was nominated. Amidst the controversies trailing the nominations, the chairman of TOP, Adelowo Adebiyi, berated the APC in the state for tagging the two ex-commissioners as its member.
“Kolapo decamped to PDP nearly two years ago. Biyi Odunlade was speculated to have joined PDP in not too distant past and it would be recalled that TOP had been dissolved since last year. Hence it may be an academic exercise to categorically state correctly their status politically. We can’t deny the fact that the two gentlemen were with us. And indeed they were our patron, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola’s associates but we state in categorical terms that they must have earned their nominations by their merits and not on behalf of TOP,” he said.
Meanwhile, a statement the leadership of APC signed by Tajudeen Lawa, stated that, the list of the Adeleke’s commissioner-nominees further vindicated the opposition party on the allegation that there were serpents with divided loyalty in the party as two chieftains of the defunct TOP under the patronship of former Minister of Interior, Mr Rauf Aregbesola, made the list. He said, “this further attests to the fact that there has been a secret alliance between the TOP members and the PDP.”
He also observed that nominating the wife of his elder brother is offensive to the sensibilities of the discerning minds in the state. He added that “the parade of only two females in the list of 25 nominees is an unmitigated balderdash, hogwash and bunkum which is against the adopted World standard in any saner state and also contrary to the promise the governor made to the women while campaigning.”
Similarly, a statement by a Civil Society Organization, Justice, Development and Peace Makers’ Centre(JDPMC), Osogbo through its coordinator, Peter Akinkunmi, lamented that, “the team of JDPMC analyzed the lists submitted to the State House of Assemble, it is discovered that women make up only 8% (2 women out of 25). This is not only unreasonably below the 35% affirmative actions for women inclusion governance, but it also clearly indicates a sharp drop in the percentage of women inclusion in the history of Osun State within the last 8 years.”
“JDPMC considers this development to stand contrary to the Osun Women Policy Agenda that was developed by Osun Women and stakeholders championed by JDPMC and which was signed by His excellency, Senator Nurudeen Ademola Jackson Adeleke on the 2nd of July, 2022 at his country home, Ede ahead of the July 16 2022 governorship.” He urged Adeleke to urgently re-address the situation in keeping with his promise and as well as ensuring that his government’s decision reflects evolutional progress of inclusive participatory democracy in Osun State.
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