“No one can legally parade himself as a consultant without due authorisation”, the Ondo State Governor, Hon. Lucky Aiyedatiwa, has clarified.
The clarification followed widespread report that one Mr. Nejo Shina, who is the Youth Leader of Aheri/Etikan Community in Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State, has been parading himself as the Consultant in charge of forestry in Ondo South district of the state.
Some timber contractors who spoke with Starnews NG, on the condition of anonymity, revealed that Nejo who claimed to be Governor Aiyedatiwa’s Kinsman, had visited them, claiming that he is the newly appointed consultant to oversee the affairs of forestry.
“We were surprised when he came to us to inform us about his appointment, but to our chagrin, the state Government did not announce the appointment of any consultant”, the contractors said in separate interviews.
They also added that: “We want the Governor to look into this issue before the self-imposed consultant starts collecting money on behalf of the State Government. We observed that the guy is not acting alone. He is acting on the instruction of Williams Ayedatiwa who is the younger brother of Gov Aiyedatiwa.”
A timber dealer also said,” It is better the government speak on this issue and stop this confusion. The guy is so confident and bold. He claimed he has the mandate of the governor before visiting us but unfortunately he has no letter to show us. You people should help us find out because we are not aware of such appointment. Even the JTF chairmen told us they are not aware of such. It looks they are just using the name of Aiyedatiwa to get at us.
“The governor should speak up if he has appointed any member of his family to oversee Ondo forestry. We know it’s not a new thing in Ondo for a governor to appoint his family to oversee certain offices. Agagu did and Akeredolu did thesame even though it doesn’t go well with the people of Ondo State. All we need to know from the state government is if this guy is now the new sheriff or an impostor.
“This was a subject of debate in one of our meetings. Everyone is confused. This is why we contacted you media to help us investigate”, he said.
One of the timber contractors who also claimed to be a chieftain of the ruling APC said in anonymity that “the governor must learn from the mistakes of Akeredolu especially now that he wants to run for election. People are watching him. He must not take the same routes of his predecessor who put his wife and family in charge of government affairs. The electorate will stop him during the election if he exhibits tribalism and the ‘take it all attitude’ that destroyed Aketi’s government. This one year left for him as the governor will determine his fate if he would be back in office or not”, he added.
When contacted on whether he was appointed as a consultant, Nejo tersely told Starnews NG correspondent, “ehn now, govt has changed, everything needs to change, since seven years ago nothing has been done for us, I have directives”, he said.
But in a chat with the Chief Press Secretary to the State Governor, Prince Ebenezer Adeniyan, who simply said “some called me about it this morning. No one can legally parade himself as a consultant without due authorisation in writing”.
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