A group within the Oyo State All Progressives Congress (APC) known as the Progressives Front, has condemned the bond of N100 billion being proposed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led administration of Engr. Seyi Makinde, describing the proposal as laying the foundation to developmental perdition of Oyo State.
According to statement signed by both the Chairman and Secretary of the GroupMessrs Olugbenga Olayemi and Wale Murphy, the loan would lay a foundation for financial enslavement of the state that the unborn generation would continue to suffer several years after the administration would have ended.
The statement stated, “When did we come to this sorry pass in Oyo State? We had thought with all his pre- election promises, Governor Makinde had creative ways of generating revenue for the state. It was this same Governor Makinde, who said that he would raise the state Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), adding that within a few months we would be competing with Lagos State in IGR. He was also the one that said we would be exporting maize to Botswana to increase revenue for the state. He also said that within six months, Oyo State, under his watch would no longer go cap in hand to Abuja to beg for federal allocation. Obviously, all these were mere rhetoric to hoodwink our people to submit their mandates, a year and two months after, he is plunging the state into a debt burden”.
According to Messrs Olayemi and Murphy, the Governor needs to do a lot more than he is doing because nothing is on ground to indicate that governance is happening in Oyo State.
“If Governor Makinde had condemned the past administration for incurring a debt of about N90billion in eight years, within his 14 months sojourn, he is about incurring a debt of about N150b. What would happen after his tenure? It stands to reason that Oyo State would be in a debt hole it would find difficult to get out of. The government should have a rethink”, the statement stated further.
Progressives Front has also thrown its weight behind the Chief Akin Oke-led State party Executive Council ((EXCO).
The group advised all those behind calls for the vote of no confidence on the EXCO to desist from the exercise which is capable of further causing disunity in the party, adding that the late leader of the party, Senator Abiola Ajimobi had already established a template for bringing all aggrieved members together by instituting a peace and reconciliation Committee.
The statement said, “We should therefore respect his memory and not embark on actions capable of further causing disunity. We should all embrace peace and forge a strong front to take back the State from the misadventure of the present administration”.
