VOICE AIR MEDIA, News Update
Osun State Government, under the leadership of Governor Ademola Adeleke, has directed the setting up of a task force for the recovery of government vehicles allegedly carted away by some officials who served under the immediate past administration of Gboyega Oyetola.
VOICE AIR MEDIA recalls that after his inauguration on November 27, 2022, Adeleke issued an Executive Order setting up committee to recover assets from officials of the outgone administration of Oyetola.
There have been allegations and counter allegations on the development.
However, fourteen months after, the governor, in a statement issued on Thursday by Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, said the state governor has approved a task force to recover the vehicles worth N2.9 billion.
Recall that the allegations had been described as untrue by the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
In a statement signed by Kola Olabisi, the Osun APC Director of Media, the party alleged that all the panels set up by the government already had their reports even before they were inaugurated.
The Osun State Government had through a statement signed by Olawale Rasheed, the spokesperson to Governor Adeleke directed Oyetola, his wife Kafayat Oyetola and other former political appointees to immediately return official vehicles in their possession.
The directive was given by the Asset Recovery Panel of the Osun State Government headed by Bashiru Tokunbo Salam.
The panel had alleged that the former officials had gone away with the various models of vehicles without any legal basis for such action.
According to the panel, “The former Deputy Governor has more than seven government vehicles in his custody contrary to the provisions of the law.”
The committee which urged the affected political appointees in the previous administration to comply with the directive or risk enforcement procedures also directed a serving Senator, Adelere Adeyemi Oriolowo representing Osun West Senatorial District to return to the Osun State Agricultural Development Programme five machines namely motor grader, bulldozer, soil compactor machine among others.
Also, during the inauguration of the committee, the state’s Deputy Governor, Kola Adewusi publicly disclosed that the official quarters of the Deputy Governor were nothing to write home about.
While stating that the state was in a dire strait, Adewusi decried the high level of looting that had occurred in the quarters.
The former Deputy Governor, Benedict Alabi in his defence explained that he had moved out of the official quarters months before his tenure expired.
Alabi also revealed that some of the vehicles in his possession were busy personal properties.
Former officials in the Oyetola administration have also come out to say the vehicles in their custody were legally signed off to them by the state government under Adegboyega Oyetola.