Ede raises the alarm over alleged annexation of its land to Osogbo

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9 years ago

The Federation Council of Ede Descendants Union, has accused Governor Rauf Aregbesola of annexing part of Ede community to Osogbo.

Addressing a press conference in Ede, the president of the union, Mr Niyi Adebayo, maintained that: “Aregbesola recently directed the General Manager of Osun State Capital Development Authority to rename all government establishments, settlements and communities, in fact all areas within the capital territory as Osogbo”.

According to him, “this is the crux of the matter and this is why we are calling the attention of the general public to the decision of the Osun State government to ignite the suppressed tension in the state through its obnoxious and biased decision to annex a large part of Ede North Local Government Area to Osogbo in disregard for the consequence of such volatile policy.

“Ede community views the directive as a slap on our collective integrity and an attempt to cause confusion and tension in the state. Moreso, such a directive has never been implemented since 1991 when Osun was created. It does more harm than good.

“This amounts to robbing Peter to pay Paul.The people of Ede should not be treated as second class citizens to glorify Osogbo. The existence of capital territory does not essentially confer on Osogbo the legitimacy to submerge or annex the neighbouring Ede community.

“There is nowhere in the Osun State Capital Territory Development Authority Edict No 1 of 1991 which stipulates that names of towns and villages within the capital territory should change to bear the name of the capital city.”

Reacting to the development, the Director, Bureau of Public Communication and Strategy to Governor Aregbesola, Mr Semiu Okanlawon, said: “The governor has not given any directive to the General Manager of Osun State Capital Development Authority to rename all government establishments under its jurisdiction as Osogbo.

“The accusation is false and baseless. There is nothing like the directive you are talking about. Aregbesola has not issued such directive.”