The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo state has called on Governor Seyi Makinde to work out a commensurate monetary compensation action for the business owners occupying Agbowo Shopping Complex in Ibadan who were forcefully ejected by his government in 2019 to effect to pave the way for a renovation exercise which turned out a mirage up till now.
Thousands of legal occupants of the public facility were made to vacate their offices, shops and business spaces immediately the PDP administration of Engr. Makinde came into office in 2019 while the state government announced its plan to turn the sprawling structures into a world class business hub in less than a year only for the governor to openly admit his failure on the project four years after.
In a statement issued at the weekend and made available to journalists in Ibadan by its Publicity Secretary, Olawale Sadare, Oyo APC strongly condemned the alleged suffocation of legitimate shop owners and traders in Bola Ige International Market (also known as New Gbagi Market) by some agents of the Oyo state government who build structures illegally for selfish reasons.
“It is sad to note that a good number of residents and citizens who were doing their legitimate businesses at the Agbowo shopping complex were forcefully ejected from their shops, offices and business environment by the administration of Gov. Seyi Makinde ostensibly to pave the way for the upgrade of the public facility. Unfortunately, the same sprawling complex is now a shadow of itself as nothing was done on it since 2019.
“This development has left, in its wake, many families in biting poverty and economic ruins. There are reports of avoidable deaths, sickness and frustration on the parts of entrepreneurs who were driven away and left stranded as a result of the ill-conceived and failed renovation project. Rather than create wealth for the masses, a government decided to run thousands of struggling citizens out of business and nothing has been done to ameliorate their condition.
“Also, there is urgent need for Gov. Makinde to halt the ongoing bastardization of the master plan of the new Gbagi Market as a result of the shameful activities of certain agents of his administration who build illegal structures on all available spaces within the market complex. These selfish individuals have either converted all car parks, access roads, reserved spaces, waterways among others into lock up shops or sold them off to their friends or corporate organizations for illegal occupation and thereby making life unbearable to thousands of traders in the market.
“At same time, we have observed that the Makinde administration has sold off the piece of land being used as the loading point for tankers by the Water Corporation of Oyo state (WCOS) just like it happened to the BCOS Staff Quarters about four years ago. A lot of government and citizens’ pieces of land has been hijacked by the proxies of the governor in the last six years and the malady continues unabated. But we demand that a stop must put to it.” APC said.
