VAM News update
THE disagreement over plans by Governor Ademola Adeleke’s administration to execute over 100 billion naira in infrastructure development projects within a year has pitched the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State against each other.
VAM News had earlier reported that Adeleke disclosed plans by his administration to construct five flyovers to ease traffic across the state within the next one year.
The governor also said 45 roads across the 30 local government areas in the state have been selected for construction in the N100 billion infrastructure development plan for the state.
Adeleke further explained that the projects are self-sponsored without any intention of his administration to obtain credit facilities (loan) from financial institutions.
Reacting, the leading opposition party in the state accused the governor of deliberate intention to plunge the state into an avoidable financial crisis with an ulterior motive to fleece the state.
The Chairman of the Osun State APC, Sooko Tajudeen Lawal, in a statement issued by the party’s Director of Media and Information, Chief Kola Olabisi, in Osogbo, on Sunday, described the Adeleke N100 billion development programmes scenario as a scam skilfully designed to enrich some economic buccaneers close to the government.
Lawal explained further that there could not be any other name for the phoney and white-elephant projects but a gross misplacement of priority in the hand of a person statutorily saddled with the responsibility of being the caretaker of the resources of the state.
The state APC chairman reminded Adeleke that since he said he would not borrow a dime to finance the projects, the citizenry deserves the right to know the source of the funding and the modality for its settlement as what we are talking of is not a family enterprise which activities can be effected under the table.
Dismissing the claim however, the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Hon Sunday Bisi described APC criticism as “unpatriotic, reprehensible and a display of anti-development anti-people politics for which the opposition is known for”
Bisi chided the APC for playing politics with “a development agenda that is widely adjudged to be commendable, long overdue, sustainable and very paramount to the economic revival of our dear state.
” Reading through the APC statement, we see a party that is in bewilderment and severe pain at the ingenuity, innovation and financial engineering of the Adeleke governorship.
“We see a bunch of rejected politicians who cannot fathom the depth of strategic thinking that produced the crafting of an ambitious infra plan carefully put together with an eye on sustainability and multiplier effect on the expansion of state economy and well-being of our people.
“The PDP government inherited a state with over 95 infrastructural deficits as of November 2022. Our internal state infra audit when PDP took over revealed that the infrastructural decay cut across all sectors education, health, roads, and water among others.
“We then developed an initial emergency plan that led to the complete renovation of 31 schools, 45 kilometres of roads, 332 functioning boreholes, the commencement of rehabilitation of water works, rewarding intervention in the health sector and major actions on such roads as Osogbo-Ikirun and the Osogbo ring road among others.
Despite the accomplishments of the last 11 months, our government under Senator Ademola Adeleke decided to address the infra crisis more holistically, hence the infra plan. We invite the APC to drop its poverty mindset which limited its thinking and plan for the state when it was in power.
“We call on the APC to read the full speech of Mr Governor in which he spelt out the strategies, the projects, the funding plans and sources of such funding. The APC should get educated that not all Governors are interested in diverting public funds as was the practice when the opposition holds sway.”