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The All Progressives Congress in Oyo State, on Monday, said the present administration in the state led by Engr. Seyi Makinde does not have any meaningful project to show in its first year in office except “jagba policy,” otherwise known as project hijacking.
The party in a statement signed by its stats Publicity Secretary, Dr. AbdulAzeez Olatunde said it had been under immense pressure to assess Makinde’s government two weeks before May 29, but had to exercise restraint in the spirit of fair play and to give the government some benefit of doubt, knowing that governance is not a tea party.
“Now after the government has come out with its 365 days scorecard, yes, we at Oyo APC can now assess Engr. Seyi Makinde’s government performance based on its examination script submitted against the examiner’s prepared answers.
“The government submitted its achievements on seven key agenda,” the statement said.
Olatunde said Oyo APC is glad because the governor said that “there is time for acting and there is time for accounting.”
He said the present administration stylishly claimed 307 projects in the education sector from the previous government his party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) claimed left Oyo State in “sorry state.”
The Publicity Secretary said COVID-19 is a good leveraging point for the Makinde government to claim some achievements. He, however, stated that when other serious governments across Nigeria and across the globe were creating “makeshift isolation centres, the ‘frugal’ government of Engr Seyi Makinde resorted to the Abiola Ajimobi maternity and paediatric centre , Olodo and renamed it Olodo Infectious Disease Research and Treatment Centre without acknowledgement to the vision and action of the previous government.”
” The pettiness of the government of Engr Seyi Makinde is legendary in its deliberate failure to acknowledge the donations of four fully equipped ambulances by the APC led Federal Government of President Muhammadu Buhari in its scorecard.
“The whole residents of Oyo State believed that the number one achievement of the immediate past government of Sen Abiola Ajimobi is security. The people of Oyo State have come to believe that what the Makinde government need to do is to consolidate on the achievements of the last government.
“However, the people were terribly shocked when insecurity with high and low profile killings and assassinations resurfaced.
” The bloodshed unbelievably started from Liberty Stadium on May 29, 2019 with injuries to scores of rival cult groups that worked for the emergence of Engr Seyi Makinde as governor.
“Since then bloodshed and killings have become weekly affairs in Oyo State until recently when the leader of one of the cult groups, Moshood Ekugbemi was assassinated in broad day light operation, ” Olatunde said.
The party accused Makinde of hijacking the Mobile Police Squadron Station (MOP ’72) from Oyo town to Ago-Are, and challenged the governor to make the documents used to request for the unit public.
“The moral burden now lies with the government of Engr Seyi Makinde to provide the whole of Oyo State with letters of request and its documentation for the MOP ’72 which the C. P. S, to the Governor, Taiwo Adisa claimed Gov Seyi Makinde processed, otherwise the governor being a gentleman has apologized on several occasions of accepting when he was proved wrong.
“This case of MOP ‘ 72 can always be appropriately relocated to its rightful place, in the interest of peace, harmonious living and development,” APC said.
The APC statement read in part: “Thursday 28th May, 2020, Governor Seyi Makinde at the commissioning of the repairs and expansion of the Eleyele dam, a World Bank financed project, initiated by the government of H.E, Sen Abiola Ajimobi eulogised the vision of Ajimobi for initiating the Eleyele dam reconstruction work, attesting to the project as a bold move on the path of stopping perennial flood disasters in Ibadan.
“Permit us at this point to remind Oyo State residents that this Anti Flood Disaster World Bank Loan is the major component of the loan burden inherited by the Makinde government which they were shouting about in the first three months of their administration.
“That the Makinde government has kept up to date in one year with salary and pension obligations is very commendable, although it is on record that the government of Sen Abiola Ajimobi did not only pay salaries and pensions as at when due from 2011-2014, until recession sets in April 2014.
“The impact of the recession were not felt in Oyo State until January 2015 when most States in Nigeria had been experiencing the impact of the recession since May and June 2014,due to the excellent financial management of the state’s resources by Sen Abiola Ajimobi led government. As a matter of fact, the government of H.E, Sen Abiola Ajimobi also paid 13th month salary, thrice, 2011,2012 & 2013. We urge the government to keep the salary obligation up.
“Apart from the N7.6bn loan accessed by the government of Engr. Seyi Makinde from Central Bank of Nigeria which it claimed it intends to spend on Akufo and Eruwa Farm settlements and admission of its failure to bring Ikere gorge dam to use for fishing as promised in his electioneering campaign and perhaps the provision of acclaimed 10,000 seedling for farmers as well as cassava stems in Iseyin on the 27th of May, 2020, not much was claimed to have been achieved in Agriculture in the first year of Engr Seyi Makinde’s government.
“However, we have to remind the governor of his intention to drive Oyo State economy through Agriculture, especially exportation of Maize to Botswana and other parts of its electioneering campaign promises on Agriculture.
“It sounds unbelievable that after one year, H.E, Engr Seyi Makinde is defending taking of loans thus ‘upon realization that for more capital projects to be realised, the state would need to spend more and as such it has to take loans.’
“Going by his electioneering campaign, everyone in Oyo State has been eagerly awaiting the midas formula to be used by his government, because he claimed that between six to twelve months of being sworn in as Governor of Oyo State , the state would not have to rely on the Federal Government allocation again.
” Infact, the way he started the government, everyone was beginning to see taking of loans for governance as a crimina act.However, one year down, his government scorecard has tapped N10bn for Moniya-Iseyin Road,N7.6bn for Agricultural farm settlements at Akufo & Eruwa and N22.5bn for loaded infrastructural facilities, totalling N39.5bn.”
The APC urged Makinde to agree with it that he never promised the electorates that he was going to be taking loans at the “drop of a pin.”
“If in one year, your government is taking this much of loans, you will agree with us that it is very very scary.
“On behalf of all APC members in Oyo State, please accept our congratulations for successful crossing over to the second year in the service of our dear pacesetter state,” the statement concluded.