ACCOUNT FOR ALLEGED N50BN RELIEF FUND OR RESIGN, OYO APC TELLS MAKINDE
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By: Sefiu Ajape
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State on Sunday challenged Governor Seyi Makinde to explain how he utilised the alleged N50 billion relief fund he received from President Bola Tinubu following the January 2024 explosion that devastated parts of Bodija Government Reserved Area (GRA) in Ibadan, or resign from office.
The party’s position follows claims by a former Governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, who said during a live interview on a Lagos-based private television station on Friday that Governor Makinde received the fund on behalf of victims of the explosion when he visited President Tinubu to brief him on the incident. Fayose alleged that Makinde neither acknowledged the receipt of the funds nor deployed them to provide relief to those affected by the disaster.
In a statement issued by its Publicity Secretary, Olawale Sadare, and made available to journalists, the Oyo APC also criticised Governor Makinde over comments he allegedly made against President Tinubu and the Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, during a recent media chat. The party said the governor claimed he rejected a request by the President to organise the APC in Oyo State and further alleged that Adelabu lacked the capacity to deliver.
According to the APC, “Gov. Makinde emerged as the new face of sleaze immediately he assumed office as the governor of Oyo State in 2019, when he started reviewing existing government contracts and inflating their costs astronomically. The trend continued unabated with a reckless show of penchant for awarding contracts without any recourse to the Due Process provision of the law, as evident in the award of contracts for the renovation of Agodi Government House and the second phase of the Ibadan Circular Road Project at the costs of N63.5b and N259b respectively.”
On the handling of the Ibadan explosion, the party said the governor’s claims lacked transparency.
“On the issue of the Ibadan explosion, Gov. Makinde claimed to have spent N4.5b on the victims even without accountability or proper records to show who got what.
“Now that his close friend and fellow party man has disclosed that a whopping N50b was actually paid into the coffers of the Oyo State government as a Relief Fund by the federal government, Gov. Makinde should know that a flippant reaction by his media aide cannot suffice, as the whole world needs to know what he did with the money.”
The APC further dismissed claims that the ruling party required reorganisation under Makinde’s influence.
“And lastly, it should be on record that there was never a time that Oyo APC required reorganisation in the hands of Makinde, who has emerged Chief Pallbearer of the PDP, which gave him the platform to be governor for two consecutive terms. As it stands now, the least amongst the prospective gubernatorial aspirants in our party possesses greater capacity to be innovative, creative and successful as the state governor than the one who merely celebrates window dressing and inflicts hardship on property owners and other residents across the state,” the APC said.
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