ONE YEAR IN OFFICE: Makinde gives account in state broadcast

Published

6 years ago

May 29, 2020

Governor of Oyo State, Engineer Seyi Makinde, said, on Friday, that his administration has completed 307 projects in the education sector, while 236 others are on-going, within its first year in office.

The governor, in a state-wide address aired on the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCoS), also expressed the confidence that, going by the performance of his administration in its first year in office, the future is, indeed, bright for the state.

A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, quoted Engineer Makinde as also appreciating residents of the state for the trust they have reposed in his administration.

He equally urged the people to keep supporting the administration, with view to making the best decisions for their overall good.

He noted that in one year, he has remained focused on the goal of developing the state.

The statement also quoted the governor as saying that in line with his promise to build on the programmes of past administrations that were structured properly, his administration has, so far, completed 239 projects awarded by the previous administration in the education sector as well as 68 others awarded by his government.

Governor Makinde, who maintained that despite the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic, the administration has remained focused and that it has leveraged the setback to improve the health care system, implored residents of the state to keep following the directives of the Oyo State COVID-19 Task Force on social distancing, wearing of face masks and proper hygiene practices.

He said: “It has been one year since we took over office as administrators of the Oyo State Government. And like every administrator knows, there is a time for acting, and a time for accounting. Ultimately, we will be rendering a full account of our stewardship by 2023. But before then, it is only fair and just to mark where we are coming from, so we can determine how far we have gone. As our elders say, when a person embarks on a journey, he should stop from time to time, to ensure he has not strayed from the path.

“But, before I share with you some of our accomplishments in the past year, let me take a moment to thank you. Yes, I especially thank every one of you good citizens of Oyo State for your trust and support in the past year. I felt your love when I came down with COVID-19. Your private and public messages and prayers were well received. Again, I thank you.

“I have always said that our COVID-19 response in Oyo State will be backed by data, science and logic. So far, these parameters have not failed us. Indeed, despite the international, national and local setback of this pandemic, we remain focused.

“In fact, instead of seeing COVID-19 as a setback, we chose to leverage it to improve our healthcare system. Oyo State collaborated with the Virology Department of the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, to set up a Diagnostic Centre which was approved by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control to test for COVID-19.

“We also upgraded one of our facilities at Olodo to an Infectious Disease Research and Treatment Centre. Instead of spending money on temporary isolation centres that will serve little or no purpose outside this pandemic, we chose to do something permanent.

“We have renovated and equipped General Hospitals and Primary Healthcare facilities. We also implemented a new funding structure for our Primary Healthcare system. The benefits of this new system will be evident in the coming months. Furthermore, we bought and kitted ambulances to improve our emergency operations.

“We have kept our promise to finish what previous administrations left undone instead of selfishly starting new ones. We looked at the books and found projects from as far back as 2011.

“So far, in the education sector, we have completed two hundred and thirty-nine projects awarded by the previous administration and sixty-eight awarded by our own administration. This year, we started two hundred and thirty-six projects which are currently ongoing. These projects include construction of schools and classrooms, construction of Early Child Development centres, renovation of schools, installation of boreholes, supply of furniture and sports equipment and other procurements.”

On the economy, Governor Makinde maintained that there had been incremental changes in the state’s Internally Generated Revenue, IGR, following the introduction of a new IGR framework in November 2019, noting that between December 2019 and February 2020, the state’s IGR figures had been between 2.43 Billion Naira and 2.7 Billion Naira.

He said: “We have started the Park Management System to bring sanity and order to the transportation sector. It also generates funds for the government. We are working towards ensuring that the process runs seamlessly.
“We have renovated and rehabilitated roads and started a Zero Pothole Policy for our roads, first in Ibadan, and this will be expanded to other towns.

“We paid counterpart funding of 350 Million Naira so that we can benefit from the Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP). This will enable us to rehabilitate 1,000 kilometres of rural roads.

“In Land and Housing, we built a digitised platform with georeferencing for electronic Certificate of Occupancy. You can now get your C of O within 60 days of payment.

“We have improved in the area of ease of doing business and set up the Oyo State Agribusiness Development Agency to harness our competitive advantage in agriculture.”

In the area of security, the governor said that the administration is building a security architecture that the people of Oyo State would be proud of, explaining that aside working with federal security agencies by providing equipment and vehicles, the signing of the Oyo State Security Network Agency (Amotekun) Bill 2019 into law to complement the efforts of the federal security agencies was part of the administration’s innovations to ensure adequate security in Oyo State.

“Just two days ago, I commissioned a new mobile police force squadron, Mopol 72 at Ago-Are in Oke Ogun zone. We have provided vehicles and state-of-the-art communication equipment to facilitate their response to crime. We have also operationalised the Emergency Contact Number, 615,” the governor said.
According to the governor, the administration has, in one year, kept up with the promise of prompt payment of salaries and pensions for civil and public servants on the 25th of every month and sometimes, earlier, as well as ensuring the payment of more outstanding gratuities for retired civil servants in the past one year than the previous administration paid in eight years.

He noted that all these were being done to ensure that funds are constantly being injected into the state’s economy, thus benefiting both the formal and informal sectors.

Governor Makinde, however, said that upon the realization that for more capital projects to be realised, the state would need to spend more, it had to take loans, which were strategically thought-out and targeted at capital projects.

He explained that the state only borrowed money for priority projects that would boost the economy, adding that the loans were being taken with “aggressively negotiated terms and conditions” and that the state had only borrowed in Naira, which “means that our loan repayments will not be subject to the fluctuations of foreign exchange.”

He said: “Earlier in our administration, we took a loan of 10 Billion Naira. This was an infrastructure loan facility and it is being used to facilitate the building of the very strategic Moniya-Iseyin Road. On the 7.6 Billion Naira loan taken by the previous administration for the purchase of agriculture equipment, we approached the CBN to repurpose that loan for upgrading the Akufo and Eruwa farm settlements into farm estates.

“More recently, the legislature gave us their approval to take a 22.5 Billion Naira infrastructural loan. 2.5 Billion Naira will be used to further upgrade healthcare infrastructure and facilitate our COVID-19 response. While 20 Billion Naira is going to be spent on various infrastructural projects including the Light Up Oyo State Phase II, building of bus terminals, security architecture, junction improvements, road projects and more.
“With the Oyo State Financial Crimes Commission Act 2019 in place, you can be assured of transparency and accountability in all our transactions. You will recall that we initiated and signed that bill into law.”

The governor also took time to explain why the administration has been unable to meet its promise on Ikere Gorge Dam, saying that though the administration had high hopes to boost fishery, the dam has been given to private concessionaires by the Federal Government.
He assured that the state was already in discussions with the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) to ensure that Oyo State’s interest is factored into the arrangement.

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Politics

2027: APC Perfects Consensus Strategy for Oyo

Published

8 hours ago

May 12, 2026

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Ahead of the 2027 general elections, the national leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Tuesday held a high-level strategic meeting with the Oyo State chapter of the party as part of efforts to reposition the APC for victory and prevent internal crisis ahead of the polls.

The development was first scooped by OYOINSIGHT.COM which quoted multiple party sources familiar with the closed-door deliberations.

Sources disclosed that the meeting, held in Abuja, focused largely on a consensus arrangement being considered by stakeholders of the party in Oyo State, in line with political templates reportedly being adopted in Lagos and Ogun states ahead of the next electoral cycle.

Party insiders said the move was aimed at strengthening unity within the fold of the opposition party in the state, minimising rancour during the primaries and presenting a formidable front against rival parties in 2027.

It was further gathered that some members of the state executive committee may have been subtly informed about preferred consensus candidates being considered for elective positions across the state.

Though details of the deliberations were still sketchy as of press time, sources hinted that the national leadership stressed the need for cohesion, discipline and strategic alignment among stakeholders to improve the party’s electoral fortunes in Oyo.

Those at the meeting included the Oyo APC Chairman, Moses Alake Adeyemo; the state secretary, Fatai Adesina Adeniyi; the Publicity Secretary, Olawale Sadare; the Organising Secretary, Aderemi Adepoju; and the Legal Adviser, Sunday Aborisade.

Others were the Women Leader, Adekemi Opatunde; the Youth Leader, Olalekan Oladejo; Joshua Oyebamiji; Tunde Oloyede; Sunday Babalola; Joseph Omoniyi; and Mojeed Adebayo.

As of the time of filing this report, the party had yet to issue an official statement on the outcome of the meeting.

Politics

2027: Oyo APC Set for Credible Direct Primaries, Says Alake Adeyemo

Published

2 days ago

May 11, 2026

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The Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State, Chief Moses Alake Adeyemo, on Monday assured aspirants and party members that the party would conduct transparent, peaceful and credible direct primaries ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Adeyemo declared that no aspirant would be victimised or denied a level playing field, stressing that the party leadership remained committed to internal democracy and progressive ideals.

The former deputy governor spoke while receiving members of the APC Screening and Appeal Committees deployed from the party’s National Secretariat in Abuja at the APC Secretariat in Oke-Ado, Ibadan.

He disclosed that although the party initially explored consensus arrangements across elective positions, prevailing realities indicated that direct primaries would be conducted in some areas, including the governorship contest.

Adeyemo said the party had already put necessary structures in place to ensure a hitch-free exercise capable of strengthening unity within the APC.

He said: “We set machineries in motion for us to achieve the aim of consensus across board but reports available to me indicate that we would have to go by the second option which is direct primary in certain cases including the governorship ticket.

“To this end, we shall work towards organising free, fair and credible exercise in all the affected areas even as we cannot rule out the possibility of some aspirants having a rethink and supporting the consensus arrangement as necessary.

“Where we have more than an aspirant, Abuja would send people to conduct primaries and we at the state level would provide the required support to make everything work out in the interest of our great party.”

The APC chairman explained that all registered party members would participate fully in the exercise at their respective wards on dates to be announced by the National Secretariat.

According to him, affirmation would be adopted in areas where consensus candidates emerge, while voting would be conducted wherever direct primaries become necessary.

“For consensus, members will lend their voices for affirmation while voting will be done in the cases of direct primary,” he added.

Speaking earlier, Chairman of the Screening Committee and former Speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Taofiq AbdusSalam, assured party faithful that the committee would carry out a thorough, transparent and unbiased screening process.

He said only eligible aspirants would be cleared to participate in the primaries and eventually fly the APC flag in the forthcoming elections.

Other members of the Screening Committee are Kamal Sanusi (Secretary), Smart Oluwole, Tunde Kolade and Olabamiji Agunloye.

Members of the Screening Appeal Committee are Jibola Oduwole (Chairman), Abimbola Jack (Secretary) and Jelil Jimoh.

Politics

NDC zones 2027 presidency to South, reserves 2031 for North

Published

3 days ago

May 9, 2026

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The Nigeria Democratic Congress on Saturday zoned its 2027 presidential ticket to Southern Nigeria, declaring that the party’s candidate would serve a single four-year term if elected.

The decision was reached during the party’s national convention held in Abuja amid growing momentum within the opposition platform following a wave of high-profile defections from other political parties.

Announcing the development on its official social media handle, the party stated, “NDC presidential ticket is zoned to the South!!”

The party also resolved that its 2031 presidential ticket would be ceded to Northern Nigeria as part of efforts to maintain regional balance and internal equity.

The convention comes as key opposition figures, including former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and former New Nigeria People’s Party presidential candidate, Rabiu Kwankwaso, joined party leaders and delegates at the Abuja gathering.

Saturday’s convention is expected to ratify several recent decisions taken by the party’s National Executive Committee, including zoning arrangements, amendments to the party constitution, and the election of new national executives.

According to the convention agenda obtained by journalists, discussions centred on zoning, ratification of the amended constitution, and leadership restructuring ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The NDC has in recent weeks witnessed a surge in defections from rival opposition parties, particularly the African Democratic Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party.

On Tuesday, no fewer than 17 members of the House of Representatives defected from the ADC to the NDC.

Their defections were formally announced during plenary at the House of Representatives.

The lawmakers include Yusuf Datti, Uchenna Okonkwo, Adamu Wakili, Thaddeus Attah, George Ozodinobi, Lilian Orogbu, Oluwaseyi Sowunmi, Peter Aniekwe, Mukhtar Zakari, George Oluwande and Munachim Umezuruike.
Others are Emeka Idu, Jesse Onuakalusi, Ifeanyi Uzokwe, Afam Ogene, Murphy Omoruyi and Abdulhakeem Ado.
The defections came barely two days after Obi and Kwankwaso formally joined the NDC from the ADC.

The duo were presented with the party’s membership cards last Sunday shortly after a closed-door meeting with party leaders.

A former Governor of Bayelsa State and NDC national leader, Seriake Dickson, officially welcomed the opposition figures into the party.

Obi had attributed his exit from the ADC to worsening internal crises, external interference and what he described as increasing hostility within party structures.

The former Anambra State governor said Nigeria’s political environment had become increasingly toxic, marked by intimidation, insecurity and sustained scrutiny of opposition figures.

He also lamented that institutions meant to protect citizens were now often deployed against them, while individuals committed to genuine public service faced mounting pressure both publicly and privately.