…chides former governor’s aides who carted away vehicles
Oyo State Governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde has declared that critics of his style of open governance cannot distract his government from recording giant strides in the State.
The governor, who made the declaration while speaking at the inauguration of the South West Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the United Kingdom, said that he was aware why there has been so much searchlight on his person and his administration.
A statement by Governor Makinde’s Chief Press Secretary, Taiwo Adisa, also quoted the governor as charging PDP stakeholders to readily project the good deeds of the party’s office holders in order not to give room for negative narrative.
Governor Makinde, who observed that interest groups in the United Kingdom had played important roles in the politics of Nigeria, said that no fewer than 200,000 Nigerians now live in the United Kingdom.
He said that the task ahead of the PDP is to regroup and launch chapters everywhere Nigerians are found. “I am aware of the enormity of the responsibility that rests on me. The searchlight is beamed upon me, and all my actions are being met with the strictest scrutiny,” the governor said.
He added: “I know that it is the seeming controversy that will be given more attention. My open declaration of my assets is generating furore in certain quarters, but these are unnecessary distractions; my focus and the focus of our administration is on good governance. We shall not be distracted.”
Governor Makinde also seized the opportunity to invite investors to Oyo state, declaring that his efforts so far have been geared towards eradicating the out-of-school children syndrome, which he said, accounts for 400,000 right now, expansion of the state’s economy and promoting security.
“In the past month, I have focused on two things to set Oyo State on the path to greatness: ensuring that we put the right policies and processes in place, and working with ideas that will help increase Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) in the state,” he said.
He stated that his focus on security was borne out of the fact that without security, businesses cannot thrive, adding that he had given his commitment to enhancing security to the Commanders of the Task Force in charge of Oyo and Osun, Operation Burst.
According to the governor, the decision by the state government to cancel the N3, 000 school levy, and examination fees had resulted in the unprecedented huge turnout of students for placement examination into JSS1, and the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) conducted in the state last week.
Also, he said that the commitment of the PDP towards strategizing for the future was not in doubt, adding that members of the party must also be alive to their responsibilities.
He said: “The PDP has one job and one job only: regroup, refocus, re-strategise. Creating Chapters, everywhere in the world where Nigerians are found shows our commitment to this job. I believe Nigerians have had the opportunity to see clearly which party really means business.
“I have one request to make of you: never stop talking about the good things we are doing. When good things are not given prominence, the consensus is that only bad things are happening. We cannot allow evil narratives about the PDP or its stakeholders to gain any type of momentum. It is our jobs as worthy ambassadors to shut down such narratives, quickly and definitively.”
In another development, Governor Makinde has chided aides of former Governor Abiola Ajimobi for defending the absurd case of missing vehicles belonging to Oyo Government.
The governor was responding to a news report at the weekend which indicated that some officials of the immediate past administration in the state raised issues about the manner in which the state is retrieving vehicles illegally carted away by some of their colleagues.
The said officials of the Ajimobi-led government at a press conference in Ibadan alleged that the incumbent government in Oyo State was embarking on a “deliberate smear campaign” against them as they claimed that it was the “tradition” to take away government vehicles after a tour of duty in the state.
“Let us make it abundantly clear that there is no iota of truth in the claims by the former Commissioners and officials of the immediate past government,” the governor said in a statement released by his press secretary.
It would be recalled that the incumbent Government in Oyo State issued an ultimatum to officials of the immediate past administration who illegally carted away government vehicles and other properties to return such or risk being reported to the security agencies.
The decision was informed by the monumental impunity the new administration in the state has uncovered so far. Even on Inauguration Day, it was so bad that the inauguration committee had to scamper here and there to source vehicles for the new Governor and his deputy.
“As we speak, Governor Makinde and his deputy are compelled to rely on their personal vehicles for use as convoy cars in the discharge of their duties. The same is true of other government officials appointed so far,” the statement read.
“And that is despite the records which show that huge sums were expended on the purchase of new cars in the last year of the immediate past administration. Indeed, a number of such cars were purchased about three months to the end of that government.
“This government will not permit anyone to mix up facts in an attempt to defend a strange tradition of ‘vultures in governance’ which is diametrically opposed to the Service Agenda of the Makinde administration.
“There is a clear difference when a vehicle is boarded and the appropriate amount paid. The records at the disposal of government clearly demarcate the illegally taken cars from the boarded vehicles.
“We also make bold to state that the officials charged with recovery of the said cars and the security operatives have so far been very civil in their procedures and no fewer than 19 cars have been recovered.”
According to Adisa, television cameras were on the toe of the officials who recovered the last set of five vehicles and those who took the cars away are well documented.
“There is no government instrument or law of the State House of Assembly that permits vehicles to be taken away ‘free of charge’ or in the exercise of ‘discretionary powers’ as shown in a memo elements of the past government secretly leaked in a bid to blackmail the incumbent government,” he said.
The governor warned that because the government in place in Oyo is all about probity, openness, and accountability, it will not condone attempts to seize public property or distribute them like a Father Christmas in the twilight of his trade.
“It is disheartening that some persons who have had the opportunity of serving our dear state, a state of Omoluabi would openly defend any absurdity or propensity to loot government property in a manner that debases the true Omoluabi culture that defines us here,” he said.
