The political face-off between the Governor of Osun State, Ademola Adekele, and Senator Ajibola Basiru took on a dramatic dimension today in Osogbo, the state capital, as the governor’s aides and the senator clashed over seating position and arrangement.
We gathered that Senator Basiru arrived at the Eid el-Kabir prayer ground located in the Oke-Baale area of Osogbo and reportedly sat at the spot reserved for the governor.
When Governor Adeleke arrived at the prayer ground later, efforts made to persuade the former lawmaker to vacate the space reserved for the governor proved abortive and fell on deaf ears, leading to a clash between the ex-senate spokesperson and the governor’s aides.
After much-heated arguments among supporters, in what became a mild drama, the governor stormed out of the ground without performing the Eid-el Kabir Two Raka’a and headed to his country home, according to his spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed.
Speaking to the media after the Eid prayer, Senator Basiru denied any wrongdoing and revealed that there was no time he refused to vacate the governor’s reserved seat, noting that there was no indication that the governor would be at the prayer as there was no sign of his advanced team.
He said he humbly obliged to leave the governor’s reserved seat for another seat in the front row but was surprised by a governor’s aide forcefully trying to take him to the second row because the governor would not want him to seat at the front row with him.
Senator Basiru and the governor have been at political loggerheads in Osun state, with the governor, in a petition to the IGP, accusing the former lawmaker of recruiting secret police to cause trouble in the state.
