BY TIMOTHY AGBOR, OSOGBO
A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party in Osun State, Lere Oyewunmi, has alleged that since the ruling All Progressives Congress took the reins of governance in the state 10 years ago, Osun has continued to retrogress under the burden of debts.
Oyewunmi claimed that the administrations of former Governor Rauf Aregbesola and his successor, Gboyega Oyetola, have drifted the state several steps backward with inflated contract sums, non-payment of workers’ arrears and pensioners’ entitlements.
Speaking on the 30th anniversary of the creation of the state in an exclusive interview with The Point, the politician alleged that the administration of Aregbesola embarked on several white elephant projects, majority of which it failed to complete before transferring the baton of leadership to Oyetola, who served as his Chief of Staff for eight years.
He said that it was lamentable that the uncompleted projects in the state had yet to be inaugurated by the Oyetola administration despite the fact that Aregbesola and Oyetola were from the same political party.
Oyewunmi, a former chairman of Irewole Local Government Area of the state, and a House of Representatives member during the Third Republic, said that Oyetola and Aregbesola failed the residents of Osun by truncating the vision of the founding fathers of the state.
According to him, the government of former governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola, hitherto, changed the fortunes of the state by building infrastructures such as schools, medical facilities,l roads, among others.
He expressed the confidence that the PDP in the state would rescue the residents from the clutches of bad administrators after it might have defeated the APC in the July 16, 2022 governorship election.
“The creation of Osun State started well and we were fortunate to have a leader like Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola. He gave us the state university. We had good hospitals, and our schools were given face lift across the various local government areas of the state. The only unfortunate thing was that while we had moved almost 20 steps forward, the APC government took us 18 steps backward. That is the greatest problem we are having.
“When Oyinlola left, the debt of Osun State was not up to N10 billion and the loan he took was for stadium and other specific projects. But, when Aregbesola got there, the debt was very close to N400 billion. Unfortunately, after he left, we saw that projects for which loans were taken were not executed. For the projects that were executed, not a single one was completed. The civil servants that retired since 2010 have not taken their gratuities as we speak. Workers that were paid half salaries have been demoralized.
“You could not separate Oyetola and Aregbesola during the latter’s administration. Oyetola’s office as Chief of Staff was the power House of Aregbesola’s government. Oyetola was so powerful as a kitchen cabinet member in Aregbesola’s government. The two of them subsumed the office of the Secretary to the State Government at the time. How will he (Oyetola) exonerate himself from the excesses of Aregbesola’s administration?
“The two of them plunged Osun State into debt. The two of them called the state ‘State of Osun,’ they changed students’ uniforms, names of all schools. Now, after 10 years, Oyetola is reverting to what it used to be and he wants us to clap for him? He has done nothing.
“When they were campaigning for Oyetola, they said continuity and Osun State voted for continuity. They have accepted their failure. That is what is truncating our success story. I can’t even predict where we are now, whether we have moved forward or not. If you execute a project on loan and your government has not completed the project, then you have done nothing. Most of the loans taken by Aregbesola will be paid for the next 20 years in Osun.
“So, PDP must take over, we can’t continue like this. PDP has a history. The schools that we built for N10 million, APC did for N200 million. The people should be expecting better performance from the PDP,” he said.
