As controversies continued to trail the plans by the Oyo State Government to award an eight billion naira contract for the proposed reconstruction of the Iwo Road Interchange in the state capital- Ibadan, the opposition All Progressives Congress has again challenged Governor Seyi Makinde to show to the world his idea of the project before making any financial commitment.
Oyo APC, in a statement issued on Friday and made available to journalists in Ibadan, by its assistant public relations, Ayobami Adejumo, said that Makinde did not need to waste resources on mobilization of footsoldiers to defend the plan which according to the party was “dead on arrival” since the governor could not sound convincing on what exactly he wanted to do and how he came about a contract sum without any record of due diligence.
“The modern Oyo State as evolved by the immediate past APC administration is a work-in-progress and there is no point for us as a progressive party to oppose any development stride of the PDP government provided that it is genuine, realistic and reasonable. But in the case of this eight billion naira Interchange reconstruction as well as the projects tied to the N17.6b loans secured so far, we demand a probe for the sake of the masses.
“It does not bother us whether Gov. Makinde runs to Rivers State to get a fake project prototype or he mobilizes footsoldiers to attack us for asking salient questions over the way he spends government money at his disposal, we would not watch or fold our arms as he continues to govern the people of the Pacesetter State with only the words of mouth and little or no action.
“We would continue to ask Gov. Makinde about the availability of any engineering or structural designs of the planned project, advertisements of Tender as required by law, any communication with the Federal Government or the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing which had included the same Interchange reconstruction in two different ongoing road projects as well as any evidence of project conceptualization and valuation before arriving at the contract sum.
“The Makinde administration has earned itself a popularity for putting the cart before the horse in all cases. It announced the full implementation of free education policy before determining what goes with it. The same government made public how he would build its local economy around maize export before determining what volume of perennial harvest it could get while few days ago, it stated its readiness to increase the state’s Internally Generated Revenue base to N20b in few months even without any concrete plan to achieve it.
“Apart from the fact that Oyo State is too big for experimental governance, we urge the governor to do away with the urge to grow his political influence beyond his base at all cost by playing a Father Christmas with the state resources. The premature ambition to be the leader of the PDP in the South West as well as the resolve to bankroll the electioneering of the candidate of his party in Kogi State in the next month gubernatorial poll should not be at the expense of the masses of Oyo State.” Adejumo added.
