The Oyo State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had described statement made by the All Progressives Congress (APC) over Makinde’s alleged face-off with federal government and its agencies baseless.
The statement of the ruling party which was signed by its state publicity secretary, Engr Akeem Olatunji, described Oyo APC as a group of frustrated individuals with unabated desperation to destabilize the peace and tranquility in the state as a result of deliberate and well articulated economic plan by governor Makinde which is fast erasing the memory of APC’s existence in Oyo state.
The statement reads in part: “Governor Makinde or the Oyo State government is not in a face-off with the Federal Government or any of its agencies. The face-off APC advertised exists only in their crude imaginations.
“The position that Makinde holds the office of the President in low esteem was a falsehood from the pit of hell and it justified our earlier position that Oyo APC is playing out an orchestrated plan to hit up the polity with a view of achieving their primary objective of ‘bring down Makinde at all cost’.
“The penchant for telling chronic lies on the alter of playing politics by Oyo APC is not only unrivalled but unprecedented, the accusation that Makinde does not exchange communication with the Presidency is actually too childish. If the governor communicates with the Presidency, is he expected to advertise it? The APC has very poor understanding of governance reason why it wasted public funds on advertising eight years of monumental failure.
“The Office of the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces is not one that governors should write love letters to on a daily basis, so if there is no need to engage with the Presidency, Makinde would not because he wanted to please some misguided souls in APC begin to bombard the Presidency with Please Call Me or Please Notice Me text messages for publicity stunts.
“It is heart-warming that the APC actually conceded that Makinde is not opposed to all federal agencies but they should add anti-graft bodies like EFCC, ICPC and probably Ministry of Interior, which controls the Correctional Facilities to the list of organisations in Makinde’s good book, because that is where APC leaders who ran the state aground will end up.
“Makinde has the highest regard for all federal agencies and the Federal Government but he will not shy away from his responsibility as governor of Oyo State because he wants to impress some group of disgruntled elements constituting themselves as opposition where in actual fact, they are mere agents of destabilization.
“First, the APC made reference to Oyo State government having issues with Nigeria Railway Corporation over landed properties, but that is just its usual way of advertising its folly. APC should not be dabbling in issues they know nothing about as it will amount to dancing naked in the market square.
“Second, the Oyo State government appreciated the Federal Government for donating 1,800 bags of rice and when it was found out that the rice were not safe for consumption, the government rejected them and asked for better ones. But if the Oyo APC, because it wants to continue to be in some people’s good books or because it wants to continue to justify the favours it is receiving from some quarters, thinks the Makinde should not have rejected the rice, they can come reach the government to collect the rejected rice and eat them.
“On the management of Coronavirus in the state, available evidence has shown that the state government is getting things right. Unfortunately, the APC and its leaders are sad, because they revel in seeing Oyo State people in sorrow just because they voted for Makinde. The APC craves for deaths in hundreds in Oyo State; their leaders like Teslim Folarin cry about that the state should be locked down so that the people can suffer. But Makinde has been focused and the credit given to the state government by NCDC learnt credence to this. Meanwhile, where did APC get the twisted logic that Makinde was fighting federal health institutions from? UCH and Oyo State are now collaborating on many fronts; if the APC is sad about this, they should go into mourning.
“Makinde has, in close to 12 months, redefined good governance in Oyo State: It is about putting the interest and wellbeing of the people of Oyo State first and not about docility or subservience to the Federal Government. The fact that Makinde is a PDP governor does not make him an enemy of the Federal Government and he has made this clear in different ways.
” However, the APC in Oyo State has the undying ambition to derail Makinde’s govt and so they will do anything including trying to incite APC leaders at the federal level against the Oyo State government. The APC’s statement should be clear and undisguised; it is another attempt to make sure the people of Oyo State suffer for voting their party out of office after eight years of woeful performance.
