An Ibadan high chief and publisher of StreetJournal magazine, Wole Arisekola, has written to President Bola Tinubu, congratulating him on his swearing-in as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
In the open letter, the Dublin-based publisher also appealed to the President to consider Ibadanland in his ministerial appointment for Oyo State.
According to Arisekola, despite consistently giving the APC highest number of votes in Oyo State since 2015, Ibadan has never been rewarded with a ministerial appointment.
“As you begin to settle down to the hard tasks ahead, I wish to bring to your highly esteemed attention the concerns and anxieties of the leadership and people of Ibadanland over the imminent appointment of ministers into the federal cabinet. I feel it is right and appropriate to apprise you of the neglect and marginalisation Ibadanland has suffered under the previous APC federal leadership,” Arisekola said.
He said he recalled that in 2015, Adebayo Shittu from Saki got the ministerial slot for Oyo State, while it was Sunday Dare from Ogbomoso in 2019.
“In the presidential election of February 25, 2023, Oyo State cast a total of 449,884 votes for the APC of which 204,296 or 45.5 per cent came from Ibadanland.
“Today, Sir, to the best of my knowledge, no Ibadan indigene is holding any post in all federal government parastatals.
“I, therefore, appeal to Your Excellency that the minister to be appointed from Oyo State should come from Ibadanland and must be a man or woman of integrity who has no case of fraud hanging on his neck.
“Fortunately, in Ibadan, we have a good number of very well-educated, accomplished, and seasoned technocrats who have never been accused of looting any treasury in all offices they have ever served. We also have decent politicians of Ibadan extraction from the APC amongst whom you can make an informed choice,” Arisekola said.
