Following the public condemnations that greeted his alleged disrespect for the traditional institution in Oyo State, former President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday declared that he remained unapologetic of his utterance that the governor of a state must not be denied the respect and dignity of office as expressly provided for in the constitution.
Obasanjo in a statement issued in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital emphatically declared that, “To do otherwise is to deride the office and the constitution.”
In a statement he made available to newsmen through his special assistant on media, Kehinde Akinyemi, Obasanjo maintained that governor of a state holds the highest office in the state and as such, “The respect, protocol and dignity that must be given to the office by virtue of the constitution must not be denied. To do otherwise is to deride the office and the Constitution”.
Commenting on the apology purportedly tendered to the traditional rulers by one acclaimed Mrs. Obasanjo, the former president said the personality was nothing but an impostor.
The statement reads in part: “The attention of former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has been drawn to a statement purported to be issued by a wife of the President with the photograph of one Ms. Taiwo Martins as the author of the statement.
“For the records, Ms. Martins has two children, Jonwo and Bunmi, for Chief Obasanjo but to say emphatically that she is not his wife or a member of the Obasanjo family.
“Her posturing as Chief Obasanjo’s wife is false and that of an impostor. Nobody makes statements on behalf of the Obasanjo family except Chief Obasanjo or people delegated by him to do so.
“It must be noted that the state of health of Ms. Martins is known to all and sundry and whatever she says or does has nothing to do with Chief Obasanjo as an individual or the Obasanjo family as a whole”.
