Amos Adetunji
The vexed issue of political dynasty is a global phenomenon. From the technologically advanced West to Asia and Africa, there are many families in which many members are involved in party politics, both as elected and appointed politicians.
In Nigeria, one family that is keeping the fire of political dynasty burning ferociously, is the Adeleke family of Osun State. In the last forty years or so, this great political family, well-known for its many cross-cultural marriages, has produced three Senators, two Governors and numerous other appointees especially in Osun, their home state, and they are still counting.
Now, the Adelekes, under Senator Ademola Adeleke, the current governor of Osun State, have hit a brick wall in their long fairy-tale political journey that began with Raji Ayoola Adeleke, the family’s patriarch.
Governor Adeleke is currently facing a public backlash against his government; this is in addition to multiple allegations bordering on nepotism, corruption, partiality, incompetence, lethargy and unseriousness in government business.
Osun is now under the full control of Adeleke family led by Deji , a billionaire and capitalist , who is allegedly ruling the state through Kazeem Akinleye , the Chief of Staff ,his proxy . At the other end is “Yeye Dupe” ,his younger sister and the governor’s elder sister who is calling the shot when it comes to contracts . “The confusion now is that we don’t know who is in charge among Kazeem,Demola or Dupe”, a civil servant told this medium. Moreover, the state money is now focused disproportionately on developing Ede , their home town at expense of other major towns in the state .
But there is also the issue of reckless government spending in Osun State. A couple of weeks ago, Osun workers told the governor to reduce the budget for his office. They berated the governor for playing lip-service to their welfare while he feeds fat with their commonwealth, stating that almost N30 billion spent for the office of the governor in less than two years of the Administration could have been used to offset the outstanding benefits.
The workers also told the governor to implement the 70 thousand minimum wage package recently negotiated on the workers’ behalf by the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC. The Union, in a statement by its Organizing Secretary, Comrade Gabriel Adeoye, had said that in spite of the increase in the federal allocation coming to the state since the removal of fuel subsidy, the government of Adeleke deliberately ignored the patriotic call to pay the deserving emoluments to workers. Instead, he devoted his time and resources propagating falsehood in the media to earn cheap and ignoble popularity.
According to him, “Governor Adeleke, contrary to his electoral promise of wiping tears of Osun workers and pensioners, has not done anything more remarkable than what we used to experience. In 2024, for instance, the government budgeted to spend N5 billion as Contributory Pension, but as at June, only N842m, representing 16%, had been paid.”
One of Governor Ademola Adeleke’s problem, and every one agrees on this, is the fact that he is not paying attention to the voices of the people. The belief generally, is that since Adeleke came to power by an overwhelming support across party lines, it behoves him to listen to the people. Unfortunately, this is not happening. Recently, (8th September, 2024) and this is instructive, the Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, called on Adeleke to hand over his Chief of Staff, Alhaji Kazeem Akinleye to the Code of Conduct Bureau over N297m UNIOSUN TETFUND contract scam.
In a press statement signed by Chief KOLA OLABISI,
Director of Media and Information, Osun State APC, the opposition party in the state asked the governor to immediately begin an investigation into the allegation because of the huge money involved.
“The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has tasked the state Governor Ademola Adeleke to come out clean on the raging issue of the N297 million Osun State University (UNIOSUN) Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) contract scam involving his Chief of Staff, Alhaji Kazeem Akinleye, describing the justification of the governor as mere diversionary meant to confuse the right-thinking members of the society.
“Akinleye was accused of using his office and affinity to corner N297 million UNIOSUN TETFUND contract for his company, AKINSAS INTERBIZ LIMITED.”
But in a swift reaction to the raging sleaze, the governor described the allegation as ‘malicious, falsehood. He added that the harbingers of the story are working day and night to cause public disorder. So, the governor called on the people of the state to go about their legitimate business.
However, this did not go down well with the APC. They questioned the governor’s clean bill of health and insisted that Akinleye remains guilty as charged.
“In view of the foregoing, we state that such a reckless stance of the governor, to the effect that an innocuous demand for accountability and probity from public officer is seditious and capable of causing ‘public disorder,’ is not only distasteful but also unpatriotic and pedestrian. The allegation against Mr. Akinleye is weighty and so grievous that a decent and responsible governor would not wait to be prodded before he takes action of handing such an embattled Chief of Staff over to the Code of Conduct Bureau or Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) for proper investigation. The governor’s explainer that Akinleye is not culpable because he is not a member of the UNIOSUN Governing Council or a member of the board of directors of TETFUND is spurious just as it is vacuous. Does it mean the governor himself can deploy the instrumentality of his office to curry favour or contract for his company in the state-owned institutions under a pretext that he resigned his directorship on assumption of office?
“The drafters of the law did not envisage that a public officer would resign his or her interest in a company only for such a business entity to land mouth-watering contracts in the state where the founder of the company is a key policy maker and administrator. While we hold that Akinkas Interbiz Limited is at liberty to bid for contracts in any public institutions in the country, despite the current status of its founder, it becomes inappropriate if such business activities include hustling for contracts in state-owned institutions in Osun, where Mr. Kazeem Akinleye is the Alpha and Omega and the de facto governor.
Alhaji Kazeem Akinleye, Governor Adeleke’s powerful Chief of Staff, is at the centre of many controversies and scandals rocking Osun State at the moment. Unfortunately, Akinyele’s activities are bringing a bad public image to the government and people of the state. Apart from the UNIOSUN TETFUND contract scam that still hangs on his neck, the Chief of Staff has also been called out on contract and appointment racketeering, overbearing influence outside his jurisdiction and undue favouritism. There are also those who are always quick to accuse Akinleye and Madam Dupe, the governor’s sister, of working continually with their powerful offices and affiliates to undermine the governor because of the governor’s weak and unserious disposition to governance.
For many people in the state and even beyond, Osun is now in the throes of a major governance crisis occasioned by unseriousness, failure of the governor to be ready, nepotism and tokenism. And some people have warned that Adeleke should be held responsible for what the state has now become under his watch in terms of governance. Other people less charitable, also cite all the frivolities around the seat of power, including the governor’s penchant for dancing, lazing around and partying. And they insist that Osun is already seated in the pocket of the Adeleke dynasty. There is also the angle of Deji Adeleke, the well-known billionaire in the family who recently donated One Billion Naira to Cherubin and Seraphine, the Church where their mother worshiped. But why are all the donations coming at a time like this when the family is now fully in charge of Osun State treasury?
Akinleye is on the board of Segilola ,a gold mining company while the governor strategically appointed Ede indigenes as special assistant and executive secretary of Osun state mining Agency to capture that sector for himself.
He is now busy dualizing the major road in Ede at the expense of other major towns that voted him to power .
Even the head of Osun state internal revenue service who is from Ilesha is allegedly Deji’s proxy
If anything, the Adeleke family should be worried about their son, a governor that is underperforming. And many, including the family’s friends, believe that he is not a good ambassador by his conduct and bearing. In fact, in some quarters, the governor is considered immature, whimsical and irritating. According to this critical group, somebody with a controversial secondary school certificate is unfit to govern a state like Osun in the first place. In their view, money is the only thing that the Adelekes have to offer, and that is not enough in a world where knowledge and ideas rule.
But because this is Nigeria where people easily forget, the ever-present issue of collective amnesia will always be there. Isiaka Aseleke, the governor’s elder brother who became governor of Osun State at the age of 36 is a case in point here. He ended up as a miserable non-performing governor who later apologized for all of his failings. “I have learnt my lessons,” he once said. But the same man was later rewarded for doing absolutely nothing as governor with a Senate ticket. He made no significant impact at the Upper Chamber, both in his home state and at the national level. Ademola eventually completed his brother’s tenure at the senate without also making any impact.
For those who still remember, Isiaka Adeleke went to the great beyond with allegations like stealing water materials with Abiola Morakinyo at Asijere Water Dam after leaving office many years ago. As a matter of fact, his profligacy also shocked many people, especially with the number of cars he bought for himself and his cronies.
Another troubling part in the current administration in Osun State is the brazen and unfair treatment of other citizens of the state by Ede people, led by the governor himself. Ede leads other zones in the number of Permanent Secretaries, Commissioners, Senior Special Assistants, Members of Board, other appointments and siting of projects.
The truth is that it is a government by proxy, and the Chief of Staff is head of the proxy gang as a representative of Deji Adeleke. There are also other layers of double-dealing led by Madam Dupe. These double face agents who have infiltrated ministries, department and agencies of government. They are in charge of contact awards and execution. All these proxies and the ones behind the scenes are responsible for scheming out both the Secretary to the State Government and the Deputy Governor who have no voice in this administration.
As things stand, Kazeem Akinyele, the stupendously rich Chief of Staff, remains the strongest man in this administration. Kazeem is widely believed to be the defacto governor with enormous powers because of his closeness to the family. And he continues to serve diligently as the eyes and ears of the governor’s elder brother whose interest, he protects. But the question waiting for an answer is: Who, among the governor, all-powerful Kazeem and Madam Dupe, is the governor? And for how long will this issue of political dynasty remain in Osun State?
