You can’t add any value to democracy, governance, Oyo APC fires back at Makinde

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo state has ruled out the possibility of Governor Seyi Makinde making any appreciable impact in the lives of the people of the state after the expiration of his four-year tenure as the party said the governor lacked the democratic credentials and managerial acumen to move the state forward as desired by all and sundry.

Speaking against the background of a statement credited to Governor Makinde last Thursday wherein the Oyo state helmsman was quoted to have said that the APC had been rejected by God, the former ruling party in the state described the governor’s remarks as “reckless, outrageous and provocative”.

Contained in a statement issued on Friday, on behalf of the Oyo APC Caretaker Committee, and signed by the Assistant Publicity Secretary, Prince Ayobami Adejumo, the party regretted that Governor Makinde had refused to learn the rudiments of active politicking and public engagement despite the fact that he had been contesting elections since 2007.

“We wonder what could have prompted Governor Makinde to utter those disgusting statement he made on Thursday while playing host to Chief Olusegun Obasanjo who came to Ibadan to remind the world about his roles in the needless sociopolitical crisis which the PDP foisted on Oyo state between 2003 and 2007 as members of the PDP allowed their greed and corruption instincts to drag the state backward.

“PDP has never been a promoter of peace, security and good governance in Oyo state and Nigeria as a whole. The presence of Governor Makinde’s new godfather at the Agodi Government Secretariat brought back a sad memory of sponsored brigandage, subversion of democratic principles and sociopolitical misfortunes in the land and, as if that was not enough, the governor shocked the whole world when he stated that he was following the foot steps of Obasanjo.

“Governor Makinde must have been carried away by the euphoria of decorating his new godfather when he pronounced the APC as having been rejected by God. Was he referring to the APC which had won about 75 per cent of isolated and bye elections conducted in the country in recent times? Could he have spoken about the same APC which receive current members of the National Assembly elected on the platform of the PDP and other parties into its fold in droves? Why is Oyo PDP under Gov. Makinde failing in its attempts to woo APC faithful with millions of naira and thus resorting to unveiling its own members as new decampees in some local government areas?

“Rather than sit up and change his cosmetic approach to governance in the Pacesetter state, Gov. Makinde is going down deep in the sea of “audio performance” and self-delusion. Under him, nowhere is safe again in the state as hoodlums, kidnappers, armed robbers, assassins among others carry out out their criminal activities frequently without resistance from any quarters. The State Secretariat in Agodi is not spared as cases of burglary and theft happen every time.

“Oyo state now has a governor who is only good at taking loans for every project regardless of whether such project is desirable or not. 18 months after, we have had many billions of naira attached to different projects but nothing is on ground to show for it. Staff of state-owned tertiary institutions groan, students and staff of public primary and secondary schools have become victims of fake free education programme while trade unions such as NURTW, NULGE, NUT and SSANIP are at loggerheads with the same governor who is not at peace with his party elders and leaders.

“In an ideal situation, Governor Makinde should, by now, be explaining to the people of the state how he spent over N9.3 billion on 106 units of light buses which he brought to the state capital with fanfare few days ago. Having grounded the third tier of government completely, the governor has put the treasuries of the 33 local government councils and 37 local council development areas under his own feet as he dictates what they do with their allocations and internally generated revenues”, the statement concluded.