The family of late Hon. Temitope Olatoye, popularly known as sugar has said their son sacrificed his life for the emergence of Governor Seyi Makinde and his administration in Oyo State.
Addressing journalists on Saturday on the activities and plans of the Olatoye Sugar Memorial Foundation (OSMF), the Foundation’s Director of Research and Strategy and younger brother of the late politician, Mr Gabriel Olatoye, said the former House of Representatives member was killed while on a rescue mission.
Olatoye Sugar, who was representing Lagelu/Akinyele Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives was killed by suspected political thugs on March 9, 2019, during the governorship election in the state.
Recounting the incident, Gabriel said: The All Progressives Congress (APC) want to rob Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). We are in ward 13 and we have voted. Sugar was called to go and rescue the situation, it was on that rescue mission he was killed. If not that Sugar went to that place, they will rig there. He didn’t allow them to do it, he was determined. He voted in ward 13, they called him in ward 4, 7, 8 and 9 in Lalupon. If you want to rig election…those are the places..It would have been perfected there. They called him for rescue and Sugar drove there by himself directly. He asked me and other members of the convoy to wait for him at Ile Igbon. He went there, I approached the security guys that what’s your problem, Oga left like that and all of you are here…follow him. They followed him, before they got there, he has been killed.They would have perpetrated that manipulation but he went there to spoil their plan.
When asked if Governor Seyi Makinde has compensated the family, he said: “With compensation or not, we are with Governor Seyi Makinde and his administration if he continues on the part of championing the peoples welfare. Although nobody will like to work and not be compensated but notwithstanding, that will not push us back to APC. We will continue to be with Seyi Makinde and his government.
Speaking on the achievements of OSMF since the demise of Olatoye Sugar, the director said the Foundation has not stopped contributing to the development of the society and uplifting the common man.
“You know he was the man of the people, so you will always hear about it anytime he did something. We have been contributing our quota without making noise.
” Hon. Sugar left 128 unfinished projects at the point of his demise. On the morning of his senatorial election, he was still giving transformers to communities in and outside the senatorial district. We have been on that path, we have completed and commissioned some of his projects after his demise.
“One of such projects is the renovation of Ejioku magistrate court, we completed and commissioned it during his burial. We completed and commissioned a 20-room toilet in Oyo town; we completed and commissioned a borehole at Ajibode. We have given COVID-19 palliatives severally and by the special grace of God, we will start to look at other activities that he left undone and finish them. There is a postgraduate building at University of Ibadan that he is yet to complete, by the special grace of God, we are going to complete and commission it. We will approach the university to please name it after him.
“Also, we have a maternity centre at Egbeda, the remaining thing is just to equip it and hand it over to the local government, we are also going to complete that by the special grace of God. There is also another maternity at Oyedeji that he has completed and he was about to commission before his death, by the special grace of God, we are going to commission it. There are lot of programmes,” Gabriel said.
He debunked insinuations in some quarters that there is an internal wranglings among the family of the late politician, saying: ” There is no rancour within the family or foundation on who will represent us. If the government makes an open invitation today that they are ready to appoint any member of the family or foundation into the government, we are ready.”
Gabriel added that the Foundation is named after the late politician but it is not about him or his family alone.
“If it were to be about him alone, a lot of us would have been super rich by now,” he added.
Gabriel further stated that many of the late politician’s friend have not assisted the Foundation or the family since his demise, but he commended three of his close associates for their steadfastness.
His words: “We have not seen many of his friends since his demise but Hon. Kamil Akinlabi always stand very upright; he has never left us. Also, Isaac Brown and Hon. Babatunde Tijani have stood by the family and the Foundation but they are few.”
In their separate remarks, the Chairman of the Foundation and the Foundation’s National Patron, Hon. Olatoye Olusina and Mr. Abiodun Badmus respectively, said the Foundation is doing everything to expand its activities and that they are doing everything to assist the government in ameliorating the suffering of the common man.
