Amosun, Adesegun’s face-off: Power supply to dep gov’s house cut over N5m debt
ABEOKUTA—Power supply to the official quarters of the Deputy Governor of Ogun State, Prince Segun Adesegun was disconnected by officials of Ibadan Electricity Distribution company because the government owed the company about five million naira.
A source within the company who pleaded anonymity told our correspondent that the state government’s failure to pay the power bill prompted it to cut supply to the house.
The source said; “The government was owing us N3.5 million when we cut power supply, but the bill has gone up now to about N5 million.”
Vanguard reliably gathered that, the Deputy Governor’s quarters was disconnected early this year due to failure of the government to offset the bill.
The Deputy Governor had written a letter to the state governor, Ibikunle Amosun accusing the governor of deliberately denying him his rights and privileges.
Condemnation galore
Gov Ibikunle Amosun
Reacting to the letter written by the deputy governor, two members of the National Assembly, Abiodun Akinlade and Abiodun Abudu, a leader of the faction in the state House of Assembly, Remmy Hassan, the state secretary of Labour Party and the publicity secretary of the People’s Democratic Party condemned the governor’s action as stated by Prince Adesegun in his letter.
In his remarks, Akinlade, a governorship aspirant of the People’s Democratic Party said he sympathised with the embattled deputy governor.
He, however, said that the National Assembly would look into a section of the constitution that has to do with the rights and privileges of deputy governors so as to empower and protect them against wicked bosses.
Corroborating his colleague in the House, Abudu said the crisis started before the swearing-in ceremony in 2011, noting that the issues raised by the deputy governor lend credence to what he described as “politics of intolerance and vindictiveness” by Governor Amosun.
“The matter is clear. It has given credence to the politics of vindictiveness and intolerance by Amosun. This is not new to us as stakeholders, we knew this all along. The whole thing started before the swearing-in. That is the politics of intolerance and vindictiveness of Governor Amosun that has destroyed the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, and now All Progressives Congress, APC, in Ogun.
Remmy Hassan reacts
In his reaction, the leader of the opposition in the state house of assembly, Remmy Hassan described the governor as being petty.
According to him; “I am not surprised. What is playing out is because there is a break in the relationship between Amosun and Aremo Segun Osoba and the deputy governor is loyal to Chief Osoba.
“When Obasanjo and Atiku were engaging each other in the battles of political supremacy, we did not hear that Atiku was denied his rights and privileges. It shows that Obasanjo is a leader.
“In a government headed by Amosun, a former speaker had his mother kidnapped. The governor did not call, did not send text message, did not do anything because he is not his loyalist.
“He must rise above pettiness. Anybody who has pettiness in his character has no business in government. This development will affect governance in one way or the other.”
PDP on the issue
Also reacting, the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has described the crisis of confidence between Governor Ibikunle Amosun and his deputy, Prince Segun Adesegun as “the chicken coming home to roost”.
In a statement issued by the State Publicity Secretary, Waliu Oladipupo, the party said; “It was unfortunate that the muted crisis of confidence has now blown open.
“While we empathise with the Deputy Governor on his ordeal and pray that the Almighty God will touch the heart of Governor Ibikunle Amosun to give him (his deputy) what is due to him, we can only hope that this intractable fight will not hamper governance and further impoverish the long-suffering people of our dear state.
“We appeal to the good people of Ogun State to keep hope alive, knowing full well that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Their tears will soon be wiped away by a government with a human face. That is the PDP promise and deliverable.”
The state Secretary of the Labour Party, LP, Sunday Oginni in his remarks described the allegation levelled against the governor as a serious one.
He said: “ If the governor can treat his deputy with disdain and outright contempt like this, then, it shows that an ordinary citizen of the state is of no value to the governor.
“We want to say categorically that he has no human face in his government and the electorate should vote him out and reject him at the poll.
“Everybody is now aware that Amosun is running a government of vendetta. If he can do that to his deputy, what is the fate of the common man and workers of Ogun State.?”
No comment—Ogun govt
Meanwhile, attempts to get a reaction from the state government over the issue was unsuccessful as the government said it had no comment .
When contacted, the state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Yusuph Olaniyonu insisted that, the government had not received the letter.
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