Team Oyo, a group committed to accountability in the state, has asked Governor Seyi Makinde to tell the people of the state how he spent his own share of the N570 billion given to states in the country.
The group’s reaction is coming on the heels of denial by Makinde that the fund was not from the federal account but from an intervention fund.
President Bola Tinubu had in a nationwide broadcast revealed how all states got fund to alleviate sufferings in their respective areas.
But Makinde, in his weekly newsletter countered the claim, explaining that the money received by the states were actually the COVID-19 funds from the World Bank where the federal government acted only as an intermediary between the international creditor and the 36 states.
Wondering why Makinde and the state government have been silent about what the close to 6 billion naira it collected from the fund, Team Oyo in a statement by its coordinator, Adekunle Suraj, noted that Makinde was playing to the gallery and has not exposed anything.
He challenged Makinde to deny if Oyo wasn’t credited, urging him to also transparently reel out how the fund was disbursed for what it was meant for.
“We at Team Oyo are miffed by Governor Seyi Makinde’s new found penchant for attacking President Bola Tinubu at any opportune time. While we believe every individual has the right to defend him or herself, Governor Makinde should be decorous in whatever he does.
“This is a man who is always quick to exonerate himself when he is exposed. We have not finished talk on the spendings of local government fund. In the last 5 years, most of the projects they claimed were done with LG funds were actually nominated by the state. The people were not allowed to choose what exactly they wanted.
“Before the exposition by the federal government, there was no where Governor Makinde revealed that he collected any amount from the federal government whether as intention fund or otherwise. This is someone who claims to be transparent.
“Saying that he disagreed with the federal government is just to say something to cover his head in shame. Why did he not reveal to the people of the state when he received N5.98 billion in the first instance and N822 million in the second instance? And how was it spent and disbursed? Who and who got the 20 truckload of rice sent to the state?
“Makinde should always do what he preaches. It is not good to have double-face. Until the president signed the local government autonomy bill, Governor Makinde didn’t deem it to meet the local government chairmen in the state. And the two times he met them before now, they begged for it. Governor Makinde should explain his opposition to the local government autonomy. Is it because of the many loans from various sources that the state was alleged of using local government allocations as collateral? It is time the governor talk and not put these council chairman in unnecessary wahala,” the statement added.
