Minister Adebayo Shittu fires salvo at Ajimobi as he heads for London diaspora communications summit

COMMUNICATIONS minister Adebayo Shittu and Oyo State governor Abiola Ajimobi have been involved in a terrible war of words with the controversial member of the cabinet saying the governor is afraid of him taking over in case he sends him to jail for corruption.

Minister Shittu, who is due to arrive in London this week, is a candidate for next year's Oyo State governorship race but his candidature is opposed by Governor Ajimobi. In response, the minister said that Governor Ajimobi was afraid of him because he might go to jail if he succeeds him in office, due to his mismanagement of the state’s resources.

Retorting,  the governor said it was the minister, who should be afraid because of the allegations against him. Minister Shittu, who spoke during his visit to the All Progressives Congress (APC) national secretariat in Abuja on the outcome of the party’s ward congresses, said he is too principled a man for Governor Ajimobi.

He added: “I want to say that if anybody is desperate in the Oyo political firmament, it should be Governor Ajimobi, who believes that if Barrister Shittu succeeds him, he will be in jail. That is what he is reported to have always told people who mentioned me to him.

“He thinks that I am too principled, firm, unbendable and uncompromising when it comes to the issues of morality. It is he who is desperate to stop me, not me being desperate to become governor."

Tomorrow, Minister Shittu will be arriving in the UK to chair the first ever Nigerian Communications and Technology Summit taking place in London on May 10 and 11. Organised by the Nigerian Diaspora Direct Investment Summit (NDDIS), the event has been designed to expose Diasporans and other international investors to the opportunities available within Nigeria's communications and IT sector.

At the event, Mr Shittu along with the director-generals of agencies under the Ministry of Communications and Technology and numerous professionals from the Nigerian telecommunications industry will outline areas of potential investment opportunities including mobile phone, Internet penetration and satellite television at this summit. During an NDDIS Press conference in Abuja, earlier this year, Mr Shittu announced plans to tap into Nigerians living in the Diaspora in a bid to surpass the 30% penetration target set in the National Broadband Plan by the end of the year.