Fayose slams FG's plan to ban 'okada', says he won't allow the ban in Ekit State

Ekiti State Governor and Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party

(PDP) Governors' Forum, Mr Ayodele Fayose has described plan by the

federal government to ban commercial motorcycle, popularly known as

Okada in the country as wicked, saying; “In Ekiti State, we won't ban

Okada because it is a source of livelihood to a lot of families. Why

would anyone even contemplate such when government did not creat

alternative employments?”
He said; “With this economic recession that is biting so hard, it is

sheer heartlessness for the federal government to even think of

sending Okada riders out of business instead of putting machineries in

motion to check their excesses.”
According to a statement issued on Sunday, by his Special Assistant on

Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Governor Fayose,

who was addressing Okada riders that accosted him in Ikere Ekiti, on

his way from Abuja on Saturday, said “ban on Okada will worsen the

country's security situation because it will remove foods from the

table of so many people.”
The governor, who promised Okada riders in Ekiti State his continued

support and assistance, said; “The federal government has no power to

ban Okada in my State and under my watch, no one will prevent Okada

Riders from operating as long as they do not go against the laws.”

Governor Fayose said; “The hunger in the land is killing and most of

these Okada riders are graduates who have taken to commercial

motorcycling to survive because of unemployment. Many of them are even

those who lost their jobs within the 21 months of this All

Progressives Congress (APC) led federal government and government

workers, whose salaries are not being paid regularly. How does the

federal government expect them to feed if their means of livelihood is

taken away?
“If commercial motorcyclist is a major cause of fatal road traffic

accidents across the country, as posited by the federal government,

should proposing their ban be an option?
“Should we also say motor vehicles, especially heavy duty vehicles

should be banned from plying our roads because they also cause

accidents?
“Methinks the federal government should be concerned with the rate of

unemployment in the country and the deplorable state of our roads,

especially federal roads, instead of seeking to deprive Nigerians, who

have taken to riding Okada to save themselves and their families from

dying of hunger.”