Osoba Saga: Opposition Parties Seek Support For Embattled Ogun Sports Commissioner

The Commissioner with members of League of Registered Political Parties

Adenike Sanusi

ABEOKUTA - Following the ongoing imbroglio surrounding the veracity of a statement credited to the Commissioner for Youths and Sports in Ogun State, Dr. Kehinde Oludare, League of Registered Political Parties has called on well meaning indigenes of the state to support the embattled Commissioner in this trying time. 

The Chairman of the League, Oginni Sunday Olaposi in an interview with THE ENCOUNTER NEWS said the Commissioner was quoted out of context. 

Oginni explained that, the widespread media reports claiming the Commissioner embarrassed former governor of the state, Chief Segun Osoba was misrepresentation of fact by the news medium. 

He said the meeting of the commissioner with the Chairmen of opposition parties was to deliberate on how to move the state forward, and not to disparage the personality of Chief Segun Osoba or any other leader in South West. 

According to him, the Commissioner was only making reference to past leaders in the state as model for future political leaders to emulate. 

Oginni said, "It is very unfortunate that what happened was misrepresentation of data. it's a situation where the commissioner was quoted out of context. As a matter of fact, out of brotherhood and having a kind of synergy to move the state forward. 

"The League of Registered Political Parties had a meeting with the Honourable Commissioner for Youths and Sports, Dr. Oludare Kehinde and the meeting was successful. 

"It was at that point he said he supposed to have come to our inauguration programme and deliver a lecture, it was in the course of delivering that lecture he was making lots of references to political leaders and what has happened in the past. 

"It is not a kind of a deliberate effort and a planned attempt to malign the image of the personality of our leaders, Chief Olusegun Osoba and Lam Adeshina. 

"These people belong to our political history and there's no way you can discuss any political issue in the south west even in Nigeria that you won't made mention of their names. All these references Dr. Oludare made were not meant to disregard the authority and importance of Aremo Olusegun Osoba or Chief Lam Adeshina. 

"Nobody was there discussing the personality of Aremo Olusegun Osoba or Lam Adeshina to discredit them. All what happened was a discuss between political leaders, especially Chairmen of political parties that paid him a courtesy call and we asked him to deliver a lecture."

He continued, "So when you are making a lecture, I want to say it categorically, that what Dr. Oludare offered us that day was a lecture, it wasn't a statement. And when you deliver a lecture you make allusion, you make references to what has happened in the past and projection to the future.

"I strongly want to appeal to the general public that, our own revered Commissioner for Youths and Sports is a gentleman that will never insult any of our leaders. And I want to also appeal to our journalists that having a youth as Commissioner in Dr. Oludare he needed to be encouraged as parts of their developmental journalism.

"He is one of the best thing that has happened to the government of Prince Dapo Abiodun. As far as we are concerned, we appreciate his efforts so far. We also appreciate his political sagacity. Politicians are creation of the mass media, so as a matter of fact, I want to appeal to our leader, Chief Osoba to regard the report as sensationalism in journalism."