N60m Land Gift: Ajimobi Blackmailing Me – Ladoja
Former Oyo State governor, Senator Rashidi Ladoja, has denied ever receiving a gift of a plot of land from the present government, led by Governor Abiola Ajimobi, saying the governor is merely blackmailing him.
Ajimobi, while answering questions on the state-owned Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State, BCOS, had revealed how he gave Ladoja a plot of land worth N60 million.
But in a swift reaction, Ladoja, through his media assistant, Lanre Latinwo, said: “To set the records straight, the land in question is a plot of land which shares a common fence with Ladoja’s house and he has been the one weeding the plot and keeping it clean.
“Last year, the state housing corporation put a notice on the land to the effect that the state government wanted to revoke the plot.
“At that point, Ladoja indicated interest and wrote a letter to the officials and copied the letter to the governor.
“The land had been fallow before Ladoja became governor and he never abused his office by appropriating the government land to himself. So, when the matter got to his office, he (Ajimobi) said it should be given to Ladoja free of charge.
“Ladoja queried whether the governor has power to waive a statutory payment and wrote to the Housing Corporation asking for the cost of the allocation to which no response has been received till date.
“The story that he gave Ladoja a parcel of land therefore does not add up,” he said.
Ladoja also faulted the claim by Ajimobi that the state government spent N100 million for the Olubadan coronation.