Adeleke also urged members of the public to ignore the rumour from those he labelled “merchants of fake news”
By Kehinde Okeowo
Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke has described news making the rounds that he nominated his biological daughter and uncle as commissioners in the state as “fake news”.
On Friday, July 7, the Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Adewale Egbedun read out the list of the cabinet nominees for the state.
Among them are Mrs Adenike Folasade Adeleke, the wife of the governor’s late elder brother and former governor of the state, Isiaka Adeleke and Prof. Maroof Adeleke who is not related to the governor.
However, shortly after the nominees were made public, some news outlets reported that the names of the governor’s daughter and uncle appeared on the list.
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Reacting to the news, the spokesperson to the Osun State governor, Olawale Rasheed in a statement made available to pressmen, said there is no truth in the report.
According to him, no biological member of the governor’s family was included in the cabinet list.
The statement reads: “Prof Adeleke was born at Ilesa and hails from Osogbo, the state capital. Mrs Adeleke is the daughter of Chief Omidiran of Osogbo Land and wife of the late Executive Governor of Osun State, Senator Isiaka Adeleke.
“We had expected those pushing the fake news to engage in basic investigative journalism if they have any altruistic motive. If however, the goal is to malign the state Governor, the truth cannot be hidden as the nominees are bona-fide indigenes of Osogbo land.
“We, therefore, urge members of the public to ignore those merchants of fake news. No biological member of the Governor’s family is included in the cabinet list. Governor Adeleke is committed to fair distribution of appointments based on competency, spread and sectoral representation.”