Governor Adeleke Hasn’t Been Gender-Sensitive With His Appointments – Tajudeen Lawal

The Osun State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Tajudeen Lawal has come out to reveal the party’s position on the commissioners appointed by Governor Ademola Adeleke

He recently had his say while speaking to the press, and Nigerians have been reacting.

According to him, even if Governor Adeleke has the right to appoint whoever he wants to work with him, he has not addressed the complaints of his appointments not being gender-sensitive.

Lawal added that having just 2 females in a 25-man list of commissioners is a political abnormality.

His words, “It is the prerogative of Governor Ademola Adeleke to appoint those who would work with him to realise his vision, if at all he has any. What we are saying is that Osun State is the common patrimony of all the indigenes of the state. It is a complex state to govern because of the high literacy rate. It is general knowledge that Osun has one of the highest tertiary institutions, both public and privately-owned. Apart from the fact that we demanded for the publication of profiles of the commissioners in line with the provision of the Freedom of Information Act (2011), part of our complaints is that the appointments should be gender-sensitive. A situation where only two females are in the 25 list of commissioners is not only an abnormality but a political heresy. Among the two females picked by Adeleke, one is his late brother’s wife while the other one is a direct elder sister of the senator representing Osun Central senatorial district, and is known to have a relationship with the Adeleke family. So, these are clear cases of favouritism and nepotism. Of the 30 local government areas and one Area Office, the Adeleke commissioners were sourced from only 20 local government councils while two or three nominees were sourced from one council. In terms of religious balancing, there are 17 Christians on that list, leaving Muslims with just 7. This is a clear case of lopsidedness and that’s the point we are making.”