The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Oyo State chapter, has said that, that Mr. Femi Babalola, a protégé of former governor of the state, Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala, could stand up to speak and expect to be heard and respected, is a measure of the moral challenge that is afflicting the Nigerian nation.

The party made this known in a reply by its Publicity Secretary, Mr. Dauda Kolawole, to the allegation leveled against the party-led government by the Alao-Akala protégé and Ibadan-based businessman, wherein Babalola compared the governments of Governor Abiola Ajimobi and his predecessor, maintaining that the latter was better.

“It is a reflection of the moral compass that the Nigerian nation has thrown into the ocean. For Femi Babalola, who, together with Alao-Akala, is standing trial for allegedly stealing over N5 billion of the Oyo State money to now prescribe morality of governance and go ahead to say that he wants to run for governorship of that same state is an affront on our psyche. It is a shame that rather than throw stones at such character, he is affronting us all with his contaminated preachments,” the ACN said.

While counseling Babalola to concentrate on his trial by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and provide evidences that would not allow the state to send him to jail, the ACN said this was more logical than taking the people for granted and hoping that the proverbial short memory of the people would ensure their forgetfulness so soon.

The ACN said it was laughable that the Alao-Akala protégé could raise the claim of quality of projects constructed by the Akala and Ajimobi governments when it was public knowledge that the heavy corruption of the PDP government was responsible for the poor quality of those projects.

“All those roads that Babalola mentioned, that were constructed by their government, go and check them all. None of them is still standing. They have been washed away due to their poor quality. This is simply because the then government piled heavy graft pressure on the contractors, leading to shoddy jobs. It is a shame that Babalola, who was alleged to be the front of the Akala government in all these shoddy jobs, could still have the gumption to talk in a civilized society,” the ACN said.

The party said it would not reply to the allegation that the Alao-Akala government left N18 billion when it was leaving office.

“Listen to Babalola very well. His allegation lacks coherence and logic. At one time, he said the government left N18 billion, at another time, he said the Ajimobi government collected the money as a result of the roads constructed by Akala. They are too incoherent for any sensible person to reply to,” the party said.

While blaming the people of the state for what it called “the temerity” of characters like Babalola, the ACN said people like him will always thrive unless the people of the state stand up to call evil its rightful name.

“Why won’t (Jogor) Babalola assault our intelligence this shamelessly? Did we bother to ask questions? Who was he before Akala came to power, when he suddenly became the super-contractor for the widely-perceived corrupt government? Don’t we go to his mega-investment centre called Jogor Centre, which is alleged to have been built by our money? If we can’t ask questions, we allow such persons to claim cheap heroism over us,” the ACN said.