Ajiboye counters Adeseun, insists he championed establishment of Federal Polytechnic Ayede
Khalid ABRAHAM
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A Professor of Arts and Social Science Education at the University of Ibadan and immediate past Registrar/Chief Executive of the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN), Prof. Josiah Olusegun Ajiboye, has dismissed claims by former Senator Ayoade Adeseun that he facilitated the establishment of the Federal Polytechnic, Ayede, insisting that he personally drove the process that led to its approval.
Ajiboye, an indigene of Lagbedu in Ogo-Oluwa Local Government Area of Oyo State, said although he holds Adeseun in high esteem, the claim that the former lawmaker attracted the institution to Ogbomoso was “totally wrong” and not supported by facts.
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“I respect Senator Adeseun as a community leader. We share camaraderie and I regard him highly. But on the issue of who brought Federal Polytechnic Ayede, he is wrong,” Ajiboye said.
Adeseun, a former Senator representing Oyo Central Senatorial District and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State, had in a recent interview disclosed that he facilitated about N500 million in federal funding for the establishment of the institution. He said the idea for the polytechnic was conceived during his first term in the House of Representatives while serving on the House Committee on Education.
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“During my first time in the House of Representatives, I belonged to the House Committee on Education, and I was privy to a study carried out by the Federal Ministry of Education to ascertain the status and spread of federal educational institutions across the country,” Adeseun had said.
Responding, Ajiboye challenged the former senator to produce evidence of any motion he moved at the National Assembly for the establishment of the polytechnic.
“Whenever a lawmaker facilitates the establishment of an institution, there must be a motion. Let him bring out the motion he moved either in the House of Representatives or in the Senate,” he stated.
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Ajiboye explained that the Federal Polytechnic, Ayede, was among six polytechnics approved the same day by former President Muhammadu Buhari following a memo from the Federal Ministry of Education, not through any legislative motion.
According to him, after the 2019 general elections when ministers were relieved of their duties and permanent secretaries took charge of ministries, he was appointed convener of a committee on Technical Teachers Training in Nigeria.
He said he presented a committee’s report around June 2019 at The Podium, a conference hall at the ministry of education and the then Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education, Arc. Sonny Echono who was also at the presentation received the report.
“After the presentation, while we were on the corridor, Arc. Echono mentioned that government was considering establishing six federal polytechnics to address some of the issues we raised. I immediately told him that Oyo State did not have a federal polytechnic, and I have one of it, ” he said.
Ajiboye added that the Director of Tertiary Education at the time, Mr. Ojo, who is also from Ogbomoso, was present with us at Echono’s office and was asked to prepare a memo to that effect.
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He further disclosed that the Deputy Director in charge of Polytechnics then, Mr. Folorunsho, also an indigene of Ogbomoso, worked on the memo, which initially proposed “Federal Polytechnic, Ogo-Oluwa Local Government.”
To support the request, Ajiboye said letters were obtained from the Ogbomoso Descendants Development Association (ODDA), signed by Mr. Banji Ojo and AVM Adigun, and from the Ogbomoso Parapo Home Branch, coordinated by its then president, Saka Aremole.
He said he also contacted Sir Olusegun Adekunle to monitor the memo at the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and informed then Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, when the proposal reached the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
Ajiboye acknowledged that Adeseun later contacted him after learning of the development and shared documents relating to site clearing efforts during his time in the House of Representatives. However, he maintained that Adeseun neither initiated nor concluded the process that led to the institution’s establishment.
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“When the institution was eventually approved, some wanted it sited elsewhere, including near his residence, but at the level of the Ogbomosoland Consultative Council, we resolved to use the Youth Training Centre at Iresaadu as the temporary site. Chief Sunday Dare assisted in getting it renovated through budgetary provision,” he said.
He also credited other political figures, including Senator Fatai Buhari and Hon. Segun Dokun Odebunmi, for their roles at different stages, particularly in influencing key appointments.
Citing Senator Fatai Buhari’s motion for the establishment of the Federal University, Oke-Ogun, Ajiboye noted that legislative efforts are usually publicly documented.
“Nobody should pull wool over our eyes. The facts are verifiable. The polytechnic was established through an executive process, not by legislative motion,” he said.
While conceding that Adeseun may have conceived the idea or pursued it during his time in the National Assembly, Ajiboye insisted that the approval and siting of Federal Polytechnic, Ayede, were achieved through coordinated administrative efforts within the Ministry of Education, which he helped to drive while serving as TRCN Registrar.
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He urged members of the public to verify his claims from officials of the Federal Ministry of Education, including Arc. Sonny Echono and other names he mentioned
Like I said earlier Senator Adeseun is a man that I respect so much and he likes me, anything I say if it’s Segun he said would say Aburo what do you want , we belong to the same federal constituency that was why over time I never wanted to engage him but when I read the story last night I couldn’t sleep, history must be set straight, I don’t want anything but history must be told correctly that I Segun Ajiboye championed the course of Federal Polytechnic Ayede
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