The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State has asked Governor Seyi Makinde to explain how an alleged N50 billion relief fund was utilised following the January 2024 explosion in Bodija Government Reserved Area (GRA), Ibadan, or resign from office.
The party hinged its demand on claims by a former Governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, who said Governor Makinde received the money from President Bola Tinubu to provide succour to victims of the deadly blast.
Fayose, speaking during a live interview on a Lagos-based private television station on Friday, alleged that Makinde got the funds on behalf of the victims when he visited President Tinubu to brief him on the incident, but failed to acknowledge receipt of the money or deploy it for the intended purpose.
In a statement issued at the weekend and made available to journalists by its Publicity Secretary, Olawale Sadare, the Oyo APC berated Makinde over what it described as disparaging remarks against President Tinubu and the Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, during a recent media chat.
The party said the governor claimed he rejected a request by the President to organise the opposition APC in the state and was also quoted as saying that the Minister of Power lacked the capacity to deliver.
According to the APC, Makinde “emerged the new face of sleaze immediately he assumed office in 2019” through what it described as an arbitrary review and inflation of existing government contracts.
It cited the renovation of the Agodi Government House and the second phase of the Ibadan Circular Road project, which it said were awarded at costs of N63.5 billion and N259 billion respectively, alleging that due process was not followed.
On the Bodija explosion, the party said Makinde claimed to have spent N4.5 billion on the victims “without accountability or proper records to show who got what.”
“Now that his close friend and fellow party man has disclosed that a whopping N50 billion was actually paid into the coffers of the Oyo State Government as a relief fund by the Federal Government, a flippant reaction by his media aide cannot be enough,” the statement said.
“The whole world needs to know what he did with the money.”
The APC also dismissed the governor’s claim that the party needed reorganisation under him, describing Makinde as “the chief pall-bearer of the PDP” that produced him governor twice.
“As it stands now, the least among the prospective governorship aspirants in our party possesses greater capacity to be innovative, creative and successful as governor than one who merely celebrates window dressing and inflicts hardship on property owners and residents across the state,” the party added.
The state government had yet to officially respond to the allegations as of press time.
