OPINION – Gov. Seyi Makinde’s 2027 Presidential Ambition: Oyo State Assets, State And Local Government’s Resources || Sola Abegunde.
There is no doubting or denying the facts again.
All indices point to the fact that Governor Seyi Makinde is interested in contesting the Presidency in 2027.
As a Nigerian, with requisite qualifications, it is Governor Makinde’s rights to contest for any political office and no one should lose sleep about that.
However, when, as a sitting Governor, he is interested in contesting for a higher office, it is the duty of well meaning citizens to be interested in the source of fundings of Governor Makinde’s Presidential Ambition.
Not long ago, Governor Makinde single handedly donated an office for the PDP in the South West Region.
Interestingly, no one asked if the resources with which the donated Building were acquired belonged to Governor Makinde or whether it was public funds.
Governor Makinde has been gifting SUVs to all manner of people. Journalists, Party Leaders, Musicians and very recently, a retired Police Commissioner.
There should be nothing wrong about this except that no one cared to demand from the Governor whether he made such purchases from his personal pockets or from the resources of the state and the Governor himself didn’t provide information about the source of the funds with which the cars were purchased.
I seriously doubt that Governor Makinde bought those cars with his personal resources and I will give you an example to support my claim.
Governor Seyi Makinde, sometimes in 2019 or thereabouts, illegally approved the sum of #30.6 million Naira for Samuel Adebayo Adegbola, the dethroned Eleruwa of Eruwa.
Let me explain why the said payment was not only illegal, but was equally criminal and reckless.
The late former Governor Abiola Ajimobi legally stopped the salaries and allowances of Samuel Adebayo Adegbola after the Court of Appeal in Ibadan affirmed his removal as Eleruwa.
The judgment of the Court of Appeal was declarative and could not be stayed and of course, no stay of execution order was made by any court.
When Governor Makinde became Governor in May, 2019, the matter was at the Supreme Court.
Precisely on November 29, 2019, the Supreme Court disposed of the Appeal by Adegbola against the judgment of the Court of Appeal.
His removal was sealed and his appointment and installation pronounced null and void.
When the Court ruled that an action is null and void, it means that such an action never happened.
In other words, Adegbola, in the face of the Law, was never an Eleruwa.
The Governor of Oyo state was a Party to the suit.
Despite that, Governor Makinde, after the judgment of the Supreme Court, considered and approved a doubled arrears of the salaries and allowances for Samuel Adebayo Adegbola.
Not only that, he ordered the Local Government to release the four official vehicles attached to the office of the Eleruwa to Samuel Adebayo Adegbola as gifts!
Those vehicles are properties of the Ibarapa East Local Government.
I hope you see where I’m coming from?
The general belief out there is that Governor Seyi Makinde was a super rich individual before his election as Governor in 2019.
I am not in a position to confirm or deny such claims.
I also know that when he became Governor in 2019, he publicly declared his assets his worth was put at #48 billion.
I know that he claimed that his worth dropped after he was elected for the second time.
It is common knowledge that the Presidential election in Nigeria is capital intensive and definitely, the #48 billion declared by Governor Makinde is chicken change.
So, where would the money to mount a serious Presidential campaign come from?
That is the riddle which all citizens of Oyo state must solve.
It is a statement of fact that Governor Makinde has sucked the 33 Local Governments in Oyo state dry.
I will give you facts.
I was contemplating to write something about the celebrated planned visit of the President of Sierra Leone to Fashola Farms Settlement when I stumbled on this vital discovery.
I have been trying to get to the roots of how Governor Makinde has been illegally polling together the resources of the 33 Local Governments to finance Projects in Ibadan and other areas.
I was shocked when I got to know that one of the illegal ways of coordinating this unfortunate transactions is to give directives to the Local Governments to make deposits into the Bank account of the Ibadan North Local Government.
It is from the account of the Ibadan North Local Government that cheques are now written out for Contractors appointed by the state Government to execute state Projects.
Those who are not familiar with the Administration of Local Governments will not understand the gravity of this illegalities.
I will not dwell on it beyond this for now, for reasons known to me.
However, I must say that it is one of the numerous reasons why Governor Makinde always chicken out any time we dared him to publish the statement of accounts for the 33 Local Governments.
How would he dare?
The management of the Local Governments resources stinks and stinks badly but in the fullness of time, the whole world would see all that are hidden.
I pity the Career officers involved in this illegal activities.
I have warned them enough before now.
I also stumbled on another discovery which will interest the public.
During the time of late Christopher Adebayo Alao Akala as Governor of Oyo state, he purchased refuse trucks for each of the 33 Local Governments.
Where are the trucks today?
First, Governor Makinde gathered those trucks and brought them to Ibadan.
Some were handed over to Consultants.
Sadly, ten (10) of those trucks were taken to the Ibadan North East Local Government and they have been sold for a miserable seventy million Naira recently!
Sold to only God knows who and without due process!!
The Graders purchased by Akala for the 33 Local Governments are also been moved about on the instructions of the Governor.
I hope they won’t also be sold on ” gbanjo”.
Where are the fire fighting vehicles purchased by Akala today?
I have said it sometimes. Even when I didn’t know that Governor Makinde wanted to be President in 2027.
The resources and Government assets in Oyo state are at serious risks.
We were talking of Lands before. Now, even Government assets are at risks.
At this rate, I think well meaning citizens of Oyo state need to go into prayers.
May we not wake up one day to discover that a portion of the Oyo state Government House has been sold out.
It is very very possible.
No one is saying that Governor Makinde should not pursue his ambition to be President of Nigeria in 2027 but Oyo state must not bear the financial consequences of his ambition.
Period.
This feature is the opinion of the writer and does not translate to the position of News Arena
