Crisis hits Ondo farmers congress as ex-president expelled over misconduct

Crisis has hit the Ondo State Farmers Congress as its former President, Joshua Oyedele, is expelled over an alleged misappropriation of funds belonging to the Association while in office.

Felix Akinboboye, the Public Relations Officer of the Association, who stated this on Wednesday at a Press Conference held at the Ondo NUJ Secretariat, Alagbaka Akure, however, said the Group had applied the disciplinary section of the Constitution of the Association, on Oyedele’s case, which is expulsion.

According to him, Oyedele, who was said to have spent two terms of eight years as the President of the Association, which is the umbrella body of Farmers Association in the State, was accused of committing various atrocities in office.

He said that part of the alleged offences committed by Oyedele was the alleged sale of the Congress’ land in Akure, without any financial reports to the Congress, non-payment of workers salaries, illegal sale of property of the Congress, diversion of money, among others.

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“Joshua Oyedele, he came on board as a vice president. He ran for two terms as a vice president. Thereafter, he was elected as a president of the Farmers’ Congress and he ran for two terms and one year, nine years as a president. After leaving the office, all the farmers, elected another executive. Not knowing that before Oyedele left office, no one knew that he had sold the landed property of the Farmers’ Congress.

“The most disheartening of all was that this man sold many plots of our landed property. He declared that he sold 22 out of about 72 plots which he sold and when this new executive came on board, of which I am the state PRO now, we discovered that he sold the landed property.

“All these were looted by this man. He couldn’t give an account of it. No one questioned him. And it now came to our knowledge now that what this man has been doing. He has been using the name of the Farmers’ Congress all over the country, all the money he collected from the government on behalf of the farmers was diverted for his personal purpose,” he said.

Akinboboye, however, noted that the embattled former president allegedly failed to respond to the call of the panel of enquiry set up by the Congress to look into the matter.

Oyedele when contacted on phone for his reaction, denied all the allegations leveled against him and described it as untrue and malicious.

Oyedele, who said he was being victimised because he was challenging the illegality of the current Executive, however, declared that “no one can expel him from the Association.”