I Need N21b To Complete Agbowo Shopping Complex — Makinde

Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has said he may leave the redevelopment of Agbowo Shopping Complex unfinished before leaving office, citing the ₦21 billion required to complete the project, while disclosing plans to sustain key development projects beyond 2027.

Makinde made this known during an ongoing media chat on Fresh FM, where he said his administration was developing a roadmap to identify projects that might require continued attention after his tenure and the challenges affecting their completion.

“Agbowo is there and I may not complete it before I leave because I don’t have ₦21 billion now to complete it,” the governor said.

He expressed hope that a stable economic environment would make it easier to complete projects such as the shopping complex, adding that he intended to create such conditions if he became president.

The governor also spoke about his experience in business before entering politics, saying he started his own company at the age of 29 and had been paying salaries since then.

Makinde said he had seen money at a young age and invested some of his early earnings in education. He recalled owning a three-bedroom apartment he bought for ₦2 million while contesting for the Senate, adding that his experience had taught him how to manage resources.

He also said he spent more money on his unsuccessful 2015 governorship campaign than he spent in 2019, when he eventually won the election. Makinde had earlier contested for the Senate in 2007 and 2011.

On political appointments, the governor disclosed that he had recommended Bimbo Adekanmbi for a ministerial position, but President Bola Tinubu chose Adebayo Adelabu instead. He said he believed Adekanmbi would perform well in public office, citing his professional background as a chartered accountant.

Makinde further said he had assigned Adekanmbi to help address the challenge of upgrading Ibadan Airport after the Federal Government declined to provide funding for the project. He said the airport upgrade had received federal approval at no cost to the Federal Government and was expected to be commissioned before the end of 2026.

The governor also claimed that his administration had employed more than 21,000 teachers in Oyo State over seven years, with almost all the appointments made without godfatherism. He warned against returning to a system in which applicants needed political connections to secure government jobs.

Makinde also criticised the Federal Government, describing it as an administration of deceit, and said he was prepared to make sacrifices for Nigeria to move forward.

He maintained that the support of the people of Oyo State remained central to his political future, adding that whatever financial losses he might have incurred through public service would not take him a year to recover.