2019: I will make Oyo state to finance itself, Makinde pledges

THE gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Oyo state, Engr Seyi Makinde has attributed lack of political will and deliberate government policies to cheat the system by those in power as reasons why the state’s economy has not improved.

Contained in a statement issued from his campaign office, signed by Prince Dotun Oyelade, and made available to journalists in Ibadan, the PDP guber nominee said this while receiving delegates from Oke Ogun who thronged his office in appreciation of the choice of Engr Remi Olaniyan as his running mate.

Makinde referred to his Manifesto titled, ‘Oyo State Roadmap For Accelerated Development, 2019-2023 in which he enumerated his plans to make the state economically viable.

“Coming from a successful business background, I have, in concert with my team worked out the best and durable ways to lift the state up from a debt-ridden entity to a rich and self sustaining one.

” The N1.4bn Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) by the state can be improved upon drastically if we provide an easier template for businesses to be established and function in the state”, he said.

In the Ease of Doing Business category, Engr Makinde said that he is always unhappy when he sees Oyo state permanently second to the last among all the 36 states in the Federation especially in the past seven years and wondered why anyone would say that such Legacy must continue.

Billions of needed naira is lost and the resultant debt borrowing is transferred to tired and vulnerable citizens.

“I will ensure that the protocol and red-tapism for starting a business in our state is reduced to the barest minimum instead of the current long-drawn period, while we’ll be flexible and ensure that every single business passes through the state Board of Internal Revenue Services for effective monitoring and taxation. I will also make sure that the staff of the board are motivated enough while plugging all loopholes for fraud.”

Makinde further boasted that without waiting for Federal Allocation,the state will use its internally generated resources to tackle youth unemployment in the state and concentrate more on policies that have direct bearing on the sufferings of the people rather than ego-serving and selective infrastructural development.

He opined that his policies are people-centred because the people of the state are suffering untold hardship in the hands of ruling APC particularly the irregular payment of civil servant salaries, underfunded education sector despite the increase in school fees and other unfriendly policies of APC in Oyo State.