By Adeboye Ado
Owo Local Government area of Ondo State on Wednesday witnessed a peaceful protest as residents, some council workers, and market women stormed the local government secretariat in solidarity with the embattled council chairman, Hon. Tope Omolayo, following reports of his alleged suspension.
The protesters, who carried placards with inscriptions such as “Omolayo Must Stay,” described the purported suspension as illegal and politically motivated.
They called on the state government to allow the chairman to continue in office, praising his leadership and developmental efforts in the council.
A source at the council hinted that many of those who joined the demonstration were market women who insisted that Omolayo had maintained good working relationships with the people and deserved to remain in office.
Reacting to the reports of his suspension, Omolayo dismissed them as baseless and a product of online propaganda.
In an exclusive interview with The Hope, he said he had not received any official communication from the legislative council.
“Those are elements of destruction. I didn’t receive any letter from them, we did not even argue. We were in the same programme yesterday,” he said, maintaining that he remained fully in charge of the council.
The suspended chairman alleged that some councillors were unhappy with his refusal to share project funds, saying their grievances were financially motivated. “All they were agitating for was money, money, money,” he said.
Omolayo also denied claims of disrespect toward traditional rulers, urging the public to verify from prominent monarchs in the area. He described himself as a man committed to peace and service, adding, “I am still the executive chairman of our local government.”