Secretaries of eight market clusters in Oyo state have called on online mediums to desist from spreading fake news on the already settled matters on market administration and leadership positions in Oyo state.
Speaking with pressmen through their representative, who is also the secretary, Nigeria Traders Association, Oyo State Chapter, Adebayo Abdulwaheed Rotimi, the secretaries made this known on Thursday while reacting to fake news on some sections of the online media.
According to the fake news, some unrecognized group attempted to mount pressure on the performing governor of Oyo state, Engineer Seyi Makinde, to present certificate of office to someone who lost the votes of a majority as the Iyaloja General Of Oyo State.
Mr Adebayo who described the news as a fake and deliberate plan to mislead members of the public noted that only Alhaja Saratu Aduke Konibaje lawfully emerged the Iyaloja General Of Oyo State during a well supervised election that was on the instance of the state governor, Engr Seyi Makinde.
Recall that governor Seyi Makinde had directed that a due process should be followed by concerned authorities to elect new Iyaloja and babaloja generals of the state, and the said directive birthed an election that produced Alhaji YK Abass and Alhaja Saratu Aduke respectively.
Adebayo explained that, out of the nine presidents from the recognized market clusters that went to the election, which was supervised by Ministries of Information, Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Women Affairs and Trade, Investment and Cooperatives, seven of the clusters voted in favour of Chief Mrs Saratu Aduke Konibaje while only two clusters voted for the second contender.
The secretary said though the election followed the installation of the Babaloja-General, Chief Y.K Abass, while the Iyaloja-General formal appointment and installation suffered setback as the governor is yet to present certificate of office to Chief Saratu Aduke Konibaje, thereby giving room for the former and unrecognized secretaries to hit up the polity.
He also disclosed that, the same election process that produced Alhaja Saratu Aduke as Iyaloja General and eventually led to the installation of babaloja general, Alhaji YK Abass was backed by a court of law.
He maintained that Chief Saratu Aduke Konibaje has been a poplular market trader who specializes in cereal and legumes business, including maize, wheat and soya beans, adding that her antecedents coupled with her philanthropic lifestyle convinced the seven clusters which comprised of market presidents to wholeheartedly voted for her.
The secretaries however insisted that the traders that paraded themselves as secretaries and sponsored the fake news over the weekend were past executives.
Mr Adebayo called on the state governor, Engr Seyi Makinde to expedite action on the presentation of certificate of office to Alhaja Saratu Aduke as popularly voted for by the market council, which would dispel undue issue over the Iyaloja-General appointment, and to enable continued peace and progress in the market across the state.
Earlier, General Secretary for Progressives Tradesmen and Artisans(PROTAAN), Chief Boje Adams stressed that there is no law that establishes Council Of Secretaries in Oyo State.
