…As Adelabu says ‘No party can stop APC in Oyo’ come 2023***

The Executive Governor of Oyo State, Engr. Seyi Makinde further consolidated good governance in the State by inaugurating a Performance Audit Committee for Local Government Administration, even as the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in the 2019 election in Oyo State, vows that APC would return to the Agodi Government House in 2023.

A statement signed and issued on Thursday in Ibadan, by Mr Taiwo Adisa, the Governor’s Chief Press Secretary, indicated that the committee was inaugurated on Wednesday, at the
Government House, Agodi, Ibadan, quoting the governor as saying, that the committee was not meant to witch-hunt caretaker chairmen, but to evaluate and assess their performance.

“The committee is put in place to review and appraise the chairmen’s activities, projects and financial situations,.ahead of the planned local government election in the state.

“We are on track to conduct elections that will usher in democratically elected chairmen and councilors at the local government level and we don’t want to get it wrong.

“We have given certain people the opportunity to run the government at that level.

“Some of them will indicate interest to become democratically elected at that level,” Makinde said.

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The committee is headed by a former Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly and immediate past senator representing Oyo Central, Sen. Monsurat Sunmonu.

It was given four weeks to carry out the assignment.

The governor admonished the committee to make enquiries from the caretaker chairmen and their members about the four cardinal programs of his administration.

“One of the things we need to look at dispassionately when you are interacting with the local government chairmen and their members is whether they even have an idea of the cardinal programmes of this administration.

“The four pillars of this administration remain Health, Education, Security, and Expansion of the economy.

“We can do so much at the state level but if at the local government level, we are not able to get alignment into those programmes, then we are actually wasting our time.”

He said that the committee also needed to investigate the cordiality and openness of the caretaker chairmen with their staff and the people of their local government areas.

The governor expressed his confidence in the membership of the committee, saying they were people of integrity.

“I do know that with the calibre of people we have here, it will take quite a lot to buy their conscience.

“So, we want to know what the caretaker chairmen have done with the little we have given to them and we want to know who among them deserves to be given the opportunity to continue.

” We want performance based on the opportunity we have given.

“We want you to interact with people working with those administrators.

“People are watching whatever we do. So, when you go into those local government secretariats, try to interact with the workers there and they will tell you how the chairpersons and members are doing, interact also with the people.

“We want to conduct an election that will throw up the best of the best that we have to offer at that level of administration.” Makinde said.

The governor appealed to the committee to be objective while discharging the responsibilities given to them.

Speaking shortly after the inauguration, the chairperson of the committee, Sen. Sunmonu, assured that they would work diligently on the assignment given to them.

She expressed the readiness of the committee members to use their experience and expertise to perform their duties as expected within the given time frame.

Other members of the committee include; the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Chief Bayo Lawal; Prof. Kolapo Hamzat, Mr Joseph Olaitan and Mr Aderemi Akintola.

In another development, however, the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in the 2019 election in Oyo State, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, has vowed that the party would return to the Agodi Government House, in 2023.

He made the assertion on Thursday in Ibadan during a media parley to herald his 50th birthday celebration.

Adelabu, a former CBN deputy governor, would clock 50 years on Monday, Sept. 28.

Adelabu expressed confidence that the APC in the state was more united to dislodge the incumbent PDP government, saying that the party lost in 2019 to a coalition and not Gov. Seyi Makinde.

“The result of the coalition dislodged APC in Oyo. If we have contested election in our different parties, Makinde would not have won. He would have been third or fourth from the result.

“The Makinde-led government has not done anything significant in close to 18 months. With the poor performance of this government, it will be easier to dislodge it come 2023,” he said.

The former CBN deputy governor said that his ambition to contest the governorship seat in Oyo hadn’t waned, adding that he remained the best governor candidate in the party for the 2023 election

Adelabu said that his defeat in the election has afforded him opportunity of knowing more about how progressives in the state-operated.

He said that the Makinde-led administration has disappointed the people, saying all the administration promised the people were still on their wish list 16 months after.

“Everything this administration promised the people of the state is still on their wish list 16 months after coming on board.

“With the caliber of people that have returned to APC, no party can stand in the way of our party,” he said.

The APC governorship candidate said that almost two years after Makinde was inaugurated, nothing concrete could be pointed to as achievement of his government.

“No state needs a governor before salary is paid. Salary is paid through statutory allocations and it goes straight to the Accountant General. They take it to the bank and pay.

“Why must that be the major achievement of any governor? When you embark too much on populist programmes, which in most cases, are not always giving the state sustainable development, it is more about immediate consumption.

“Populist programmes are short-lived. Within a short period, people will know that this man doesn’t really have so much to offer in terms of sustainable infrastructural development.

“It is going to two years now, can you point at one or two major projects that this government has completed? Everything is still on their wish list and if wishes were horses, beggars would ride,” he said.

Adelabu thanked God for sparing his life to attain 50 years, noting that his grandfather, Adegoke Adelabu and father AbdulRauf Adelabu died at age 43 and 33 respectively.

The week-long event would feature prayer session, inauguration of his completed projects and celebrations across the political zones in the state.

An Ibadan indigene at the Gbagi Market, who simply identified himself as Rafiu Alimi advised Adelabu to refrain from bad-mouthing the Governor, stressing that salaries were now more regular and the workers more hopeful.

A teacher in a secondary school at Apete, Ibadan who spoke on conditions of anonymity talked in like manner, counseling Adelabu to work harder, because Makinde is growing stronger every day now!