‘Put a stop to dubious contract award, address hunger’ – Oyo APC tells Makinde

Oyo state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged Governor Seyi Makinde to desist from further award of contracts at an allegedly inflated cost but rather find ways of providing succour to the teeming populace who are direct victims of the worsening economic situation in the country.

Oyo APC reacted to the announcement made on Wednesday by the state government that the administration of Governor Makinde had approved the release of the sum of N3.35 billion for the purchase of Kia Rio cars as security vehicles and another N3.19 billion for the maintenance of streetlight in the state.

In a statement issued on Thursday and made available to journalists in Ibadan by its Publicity Secretary, Olawale Sadare, Oyo APC posited that “reckless spending, misplaced priority and lack of proper planning on the part of those at the helm of affairs, as being experienced in Oyo state since 2019, was responsible for the skyrocketing inflation and poverty in the country.

“It has come to a point that we, as stakeholders in the affairs of the Pacesetters state, cannot continue to watch as the present PDP administration would not cease plundering scarce resources. We queried the wisdom behind spending billions of naira on the purchase of Kia Rio brand of luxury cars as security vehicles about years ago, and we got vindicated as only a few numbers of those cars are seen around today.

“The state government is now repeating the same sleaze with the Wednesday approval of N3.35b on another 105 units of the same fragile vehicle brand for security. Apart from the fact that such a brand is not ideal for use as patrol vehicles by security agents, the price of each car is put at N32 million and this is unacceptable. Also, on the issue of N3.19 billion approved for the maintenance of the streetlight project which cost over N28 billion to be executed without accountability, we vehemently kick against it as there is no justification for spending such a stupendous amount on replacement of poles. We cannot continue like this.” Oyo APC stated.

“Rather than create an avenue for a few privileged persons around the corridor of power to siphon scarce resources, Gov. Makinde should emulate some governors who have done so much in recent times to address the challenges in their respective states. He should also address the plight of workers and pensioners in the state who came out a few days ago to lament the high-handedness, deprivation, and deceit of the PDP administration since 2019.

“We are also using this opportunity to raise the alarm on the persistent downward slide which has been the case of education in Oyo state. A few days ago, the results posted by virtually all the students of public schools in the state who participated in the last West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE) left much to be desired. It was F9 parallel everywhere, and this is a result of the rot brought into the system by Gov. Makinde. We cannot continue like this,” Sadare stated.