Politics

Makinde writes EFCC to recover money stolen under late Ajimobi’s govt

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Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has stated that cash stolen during his predecessor, late Senator Abiola Ajimobi’s government, would be recovered.

He stated that he had filed a letter to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) requesting an investigation into the corporation that was allegedly used to drain monies from the state.

The governor spoke in Ibadan on Saturday during a show called State Affairs on Splash FM, according to a statement from his Chief Press Secretary, Taiwo Adisa.

He claimed that his administration had taken bold actions to prevent ghost workers and pensioners from being added to the payroll.

“Let me give you an example – when I came in, I looked at how some monies were spent and I believed it was the Paris Club refund they moved, which was about N7bn to N8bn, to Oyo State Road Maintenance Agency.

“This is an agency that operates normally on a budget of about N45m every month but this money came in around November 2017, and in early 2018, they started spending the money.

When we came in, we discovered they finished spending the money on nothing within one year. They stole the money and I know those behind the stealing and I am after them right now. There is a company called Chinese Global. They said they are Chinese people but we know the people behind it. The company has been shut down as we speak,” Makinde said.

The governor claimed that he had already questioned OYSROMA’s General Manager about the matter, and that he had been told that no new recruitments or contracts had been given.

He explained, “He (the GM) said the company supplied asphalt and I said if the company did, was the asphalt used to repair roads without employing new people and giving out contracts? He said the money was moved from OYSROMA to Chinese Global and two other companies without any supply from the companies.

“As a result of that, I wrote to the EFCC and reported the matter about what we are facing here. Chinese Global is also the company they awarded the Bembo-Apata Road contract to, and the same company got the Ido-Eruwa project. But I said to them, ‘guys, you have Oyo State money with you. Go ahead and use the money to finish up the roads and they promised to do it.’ As soon as former Governor Abiola Ajimobi passed on, they reneged on all those projects. And I said, fine. As long as you have Oyo State money with you, I will get it back for our state.”

He went on to say that the money was worth between N12 billion and N15 billion, adding that the thieves were not Chinese but Oyo State residents.

Politics

Oyo’s improved IGR, a result of hard work – Makinde

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The Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has attributed the improved Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) in the state to hard work and the government’s pragmatic approach.

Makinde, who stated this in a statement issued on Sunday by his Chief Press Secretary, Taiwo Adisa, was reacting to the IGR Index released by the National Bureau of Statistics for the first two quarters of 2021.

He said the leap in the IGR was the manifestation of his “administration’s pragmatic approach to governance since May 2019.”

The governor noted that going by the NBS’s half-year report on states’ IGR, Oyo State with N25.19billion was placed in the seventh position.

Lagos State topped the chart with N267.23billion followed by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) (N69.07billion) and Rivers State (N57.32billion).

Makinde said: “The government will continue to be bullish in its approach to expanding the state’s economy as that this was in line with the administration’s commitment in the Roadmap for Accelerated Development of Oyo State, 2019-2023.”

Politics

Makinde cautions individuals politicising insecurity over 2023 ambitions

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The Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has cautioned people politicising security issues in the state, saying they were making a mistake.

The governor, who addressed the congregations at the St. Peters Anglican Cathedral, Aremo, Ibadan, on Sunday, maintained that issues concerning the country’s security shouldn’t be politicised

Although Makinde admitted that the state was experiencing security challenges, he stressed that the problem was not peculiar to the state but the country as a whole.

He asked: “If there’s no Oyo State or Nigeria by 2023 because of the politicisation of security; who and what are they going to govern?”

The governor urged individuals politicising the security challenges in the state because of their 2023 political ambitions to seek the face of God instead of engaging in actions that could trigger insecurity in the state.

He said the state government had taken time to investigate reports of insecurity across Oyo State and was making efforts to better equip security operatives.

Entertainment

Ex-lawmaker condemns Makinde’s handling of Oyo security crisis

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A former lawmaker, who represented Oyo South Senatorial District at the National Assembly, Senator Olufemi Lanlehin has condemned Governor Seyi Makinde for his handling of the security crisis in the Ibarapa/Oke Ogun area of the state.

The former lawmaker noted that while the governor considered the right of the killer herders to live in any part of the country, he failed to respect the right of the host community to live full life devoid of intimidation, killings and deprivation.

Lanlehin stated this on Sunday in a statement which he personally signed, adding that “I have observed, with deep concern, the rising wave of insecurity in Oyo State, advertised in the increasing cases of murder, armed robbery, kidnapping and all sorts of criminal activities.”

The former governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), further noted that from Ibadan to Oyo, Ogbomoso to Oke-Ogun, and Ibarapa, nowhere could be labelled as safe and peaceful.

He said: “More baffling is Governor Seyi Makinde’s inept handling of the entire situation, particularly his reactive and indecisive approach to tackling the most basic of challenges his administration can ever face.

“The recent incident whereby Chief Sunday Adeyemo, fondly referred to as Sunday Igboho, gave an ultimatum to the Seriki Fulani in Igangan is a case in point. With available information, one cannot but criticise Governor Makinde for his hasty and one-sided state-wide broadcast on the incident, and his biased upbraiding of Sunday Igboho, without as much as showing empathy with the victims of the rape, kidnappings, murder and farmland destruction allegedly perpetrated by some criminal elements within the herders community, under the guise of working as herdsmen.

“As usual, the governor was just being politically correct, and excessively populist in that broadcast of his, when he should have been balanced, and not appear to pander to the whims and caprices of the supposed afflicters. Why couldn’t he have invited both parties to a meeting and set in motion the process to an amicable resolution or even pay an on-the-spot assessment to Igangan instead of rushing to broadcast his jaundiced opinion? Till date, there is no evidence of the governor having personally visited Ibarapaland in his capacity as the state’s Chief Security Officer.”

Lanlehin, who called on Governor Makinde not to be carried away by the euphoria of office or the allure of power, counselled him to be guided by deep introspection, wise counsel and an abiding devotion to the protection of the lives and property of the people of Oyo State.

Politics

Fayose cautions Makinde over call for Igboho’s arrest, lists consequences

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Former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, has advised Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde against calling for the arrest of Sunday Adeyemo, a youth leader better known as Sunday Igboho arrest.

He said Makinde should rather use dialogue and persuasion instead of escalating tension in his own state by calling for the arrest of Igboho.

Igboho had recently issued a quit notice to herdsmen in Ibarapa and Oke Ogun area of Oyo State over kidnapping and killing of the people by suspected herdsmen.

But his action was frowned at by the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Adamu, and the state governor, Makinde, both of whom ordered for the arrest of the youth leader.

However, Fayose, in a post on his Twitter handle on Saturday – @GovAyoFayose – listed some of the consequences arresting Igboho could come with and asked Makinde to employ dialogue in resolving the matter.

He wrote, “Gov Seyi Makinde should rather use dialogue and persuasion instead of escalating tension in his own State by calling for the arrest of Sunday Adeyemo or anyone at this time.

“If FG and some governors could ‘dialogue’ with Boko Haram terrorists, Gov Makinde calling all stakeholders to a round-table discussion will not be a misplaced action.

“Any attempt to arrest anyone will cause further threat to the already fragile peace in the West and the country as a whole. Above all, any unchecked escalation may lead to a state of emergency.”

Politics

Lagos PDP dumps Fayose, endorses Makinde as South-West party leader

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The Lagos State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has endorsed Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State as the leader of the party in the South-West.

The Lagos State PDP stated this after a meeting with the governor on Saturday at the Government House, Agodi, Ibadan.

The battle for who is the party’s leader in the zone had set Makinde and former Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose and their supporters against each other in recent times, creating a rift in the party at that level.

Apparently, rejecting Fayose, the Lagos PDP delegation led by its Deputy Chairman, Alhaji Waliu Hassan, pledged members’ loyalty to Makinde as a force to reckon with in the South-West PDP.

Speaking to journalists after the meeting, a former House of Representatives member, Rita Orji, called of Governor Makinde not to relent in his leadership roles while also promising that the Lagos State chapter of the PDP would ensure amicable resolution of conflicts within its fold.

Orji said: “The purpose of today’s meeting is to thank Governor Makinde for standing by the party and to pledge total loyalty to his leadership of the South-West. No more, no less.

“We can tell you that the governor does not want anything from us. He, as the Chief Security Officer of Oyo State, needs nothing from the party. Rather, we are the ones who came all the way from Lagos to plead with him to keep leading the party.

“We resolved to, irrespective of any rancour, move the party forward and we will ensure that the party takes its better seat in 2023. We did not come here to discuss who takes anything for zonal congress. The congress will soon come up and for all we care, we have come to restate our commitment to our own governor.

“It is the full structure of Lagos that is represented here. Out of 19, we have the representation of 12 local government chairmen. We also have 17 complete non-working committee members of state exco here present. We have the deputy chairman of the party here. We have the secretary, legal adviser and the entire party structure of Lagos State here. This is a complete House of PDP, Lagos State.”

Politics

End SARS: AD Chieftain, Alao blasts Makinde over donation of N100m for damaged Soun’s palace

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A chieftain of Alliance for Democracy (AD) in Oyo State, Engineer Oyedele Hakeem Alao, has condemned Governor Seyi Makinde of the state over the donation of N100m to the Soun of Ogbomoso for the rehabilitation of a portion of his palace partially destroyed on Sunday.

DAILY POST recalls that some angry protesters had on Sunday invaded the palace of the Soun of Ogbomoso, Oba Jimoh Oyewumi and destroyed some property.

Makinde who visited the palace on Monday announced the donation of N100m for the rehabilitation of the damaged portion of the palace.

He also announced the sum of N1m each for families of those who lost their lives during the protests.

But Oyedele Hakeem Alao has faulted the decision of the Governor for donating N100m for the rehabilitation of a damaged portion of the palace. He described the donation as reckless spending, considering the financial situation of the state.

Alao, who contested the gubernatorial election on the platform of AD in 2019 general elections, added that the state is not buoyant to the point of doling out 2 per cent of monthly allocation to repair some damaged property at the palace.

The AD chieftain in a statement made available to DAILY POST on Friday through his Media Aide, Omotayo Iyanda, declared that as a good public finance manager, it is wrong for Makinde to just deep his hand into public coffers and spend recklessly.

He said, “In the wake of the #EndSARS protest in Ogbomoso, the palace of our aged royal father was badly vandalized out of unmitigated anger by our irate youth. Our father, Soun of Ogbomoso, Oba Oyewumi Ajagungbade, had little or no power to mitigate the situation.

“It is commendable that our governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde promptly visited Ogbomoso land but it is appalling that Governor Makinde could be so reckless again to publicly announce N100m for the rehabilitation of the damaged portions of the palace. Oyo State government is not buoyant to the point of doling out almost 2% of its monthly allocation. Interestingly, N1m was announced to be donated to the families of those that lost their lives.

“We are not saying our governor should not support our royal father’s palace or the other people. What we are saying is that there are better other ways to come to the aid of the people in distress. Our governor can appeal to the indigenes of Ogbomoso and other Oyo State residents to come together to rescue the situation. As a good public finance manager, you do not just deep your hand into public coffers and spend recklessly”.

Alao added that the End SARS protests across the country is not all about banning SARS but an expression of the peoples’ anger against bad governance.

“It is very obvious that this mass protest significantly by our youths across the country is not only about “End SARS” but is an expression of the peoples’ anger against bad governance, widespread corruption, unemployment, nepotism, cronyism, increasing cost of living, insecurity, poor infrastructure and lack of basic human necessity of food, housing and decent allowance. It is crystal clear from the protests across the country that the Nigerians are getting to the climax of their endurance. It is disheartening and dangerous that the protests do not have clear leadership yet.

‘This is worrisome as it is almost identical to the Arab upspring of 2011. President Muhammadu Buhari, all members of the political class, our royal fathers, religious leaders and civil society groups should rise up to save this country from the stroke of fire that could engulf it so soon.

“However, it is not enough to just scrap SARS and come up with another police formation in the name of SWAT just three days after the disbandment of the dreaded SARS. And worse still, the IGP Muhammed Adamu has stated that some members of the disbanded SARS are still going to be re-integrated into the new SWAT.

“The question is: do we need a new police formation right now? What have we done with other formations not scrapped? Is scrapping the real action needed to get a responsible corrupt-free policing in Nigeria? What about the huge cost of setting up a new police formation? Will the new set-up be able to face the challenges of the insecurity in the country? How will the IGP monitor the new formation to ensure it does not revert to SARS antics? Are there going to be regular courses for the members of the SWAT team on human behaviour and civility?”.

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