— Says they’re frustrating Govs media aides
— We’re suffering in silence
— We’ll react soon – Commissioners aides
By Dayo Johnson Akure
A seemingly crisis is brewing in the administration of governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo state as the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor of Ondo State on Multimedia, Mr Taiwo Gbamila, accused the Commissioner for Infrastructure, Public Utilities and Works Abiola Olawoye and Finance commissioner, Wunmi lsaac of alleged sabotage.
Gbamila called out the two commissioners of frustrating the efforts of the governor’s media team to prop age the activities of the governor.
He was reacting to the outburst of the Works commissioner, Olawoye, who attacked the governor’s media aides during the All Progressive Congress stakeholders meeting, held in Akure, the state capital.
Olaoye, had accused the governor’s media aides of shirking in their responsibilities in showcasing the ongoing projects of his ministry and the development strides of the Aiyedatiwa’s administration across the state.
But in a 12-minute 59-second video which has gone viral on the social media, Gbamila, described the attack of Olawoye, as inappropriate, divisive and capable of triggering a deeper crisis within the administration.
He lamented that the stakeholders meeting which was attended by party leaders, senior government officials and other stakeholders, was meant to focus on development issues but was turned into a platform for attacking officials who work directly under the governor’s mandate.
Gbamila said ” It is regrettable that a stakeholders’ meeting convened to discuss development was converted into a forum for attacking the governor’s media aides.
“Such conduct undermines unity and distracts from our collective responsibility to support the governor in delivering good governance.
“No appointee has the moral or administrative right to publicly ridicule fellow officials who are working tirelessly to project the programmes and achievements of this administration.
“The media aides have continued to discharge their duties with dedication, often under intense pressure and limited resources, yet they remain focused on ensuring that the people of Ondo State are properly informed about the activities of their government”.
“When we begin to attack ourselves in public, we hand over ammunition to critics of the government and weaken the collective effort to deliver good governance,”
Gbamila, also recalled that similar incident occurred last year, alleging Olawoye and lsaac connived together to frustrate funds duly allocated for media relations.
According to him “This is not the first time such an issue is arising, there was a similar incident in the past when the Honourable Commissioner for Infrastructure and the Commissioner for Finance, Omowumi Isacc, allegedly connived to halt the release of funds already approved and allocated for media relations.”
He alleged that the actions of the two commissioners was a deliberate attempt to weaken the governor’s communication machinery and embarrass the administration in the eyes of the public.
Gbamila, accused the Commissioner for Finance, for withholding operational funds and running grants for the governor’s media unit for nine months.
“We are just suffering in silence. Yet you both always blame us for the issues that you created.”
“How do you expect the media team to effectively project the programmes and achievements of the governor when funds meant for media engagement are deliberately withheld?” he queried.
While commending the Chief Press Secretary, Ebenezer Adeniyan, for not allowing himself to be frustrated, Gbamila noted that ” he uses his personal influence to source external funds in order to keep operations running so that the job will not fail.
The two commissioners have not reacted to the outburst of the governor’s aide which has unsettled the government in the state.
Contacted, the media aides to both commissioners declined comments insisting that an official reactions would be made during the week after clearance from the state governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa.
Meanwhile, Vanguard learnt that the state governor, has scheduled a meeting with his media aides for midweek to resolve the internal crisis.
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