Those who unleashed Adeleke on Osun did not mean well — Omipidan

Ismail Omipidan, the former Chief Press Secretary to the immediate past Osun State Governor, Adegboyega Oyetola, has described the one year in office of Governor Ademola Adeleke as a monumental failure underpinned on deceit, propaganda and fraudulent claims.

Similarly, he said it was ungodly to have forced Senator Adeleke on Osun, saying all those who collaborated to unleash him on Osun did not mean well for the future of the state.

Omipidan made the statements on Monday while featuring on a popular radio programme tagged ‘The Issues’ on Unique FM, Ilesa.

The former Political Editor of The Sun Newspaper who berated Adeleke for running a clannish government, said it had become obvious that the governor lacks the requisite knowledge, competence and capacity to administer the affairs of Osun as manifested in the monumental failure that envelopes every stratum of governance in the state.

Omipidan lamented what he described as imposition of Governor Adeleke on the good people of the state by his elder brother who knows that he (Adeleke) has nothing to offer the state let alone governing a sophisticated state like Osun.

“Every right thinking Osun person knows that our dear state doesn’t deserve the kind of government that it currently has. Let us look at the antecedents, the elder brother of the Governor runs a conglomerate of businesses and for the years he has been running them, he didn’t allow his younger brother (now Osun Governor) to man any of those businesses, meaning that he knows his younger brother has no capacity to run anything. For the brother (governor) has any capacity, he (the elder brother ) won’t place him on a monthly allowance.

“Therefore, it is unfair and ungodly for him to have forced his brother on the state as a governor.

“Look at their statement, as released by the Governor’s spokesperson, claiming that they have surpassed the expectations. The question to ask is, what was their expectation. If you recall, around July 2022, the Governor himself said he had  appointed a transition committee to come up with projects he is going to execute for the 100 days, six months, one year and subsequently.

“And if you recall, a day after their inauguration, myself and the Chairman of the transition Committee, Dr. Oladimeji were on a radio programme, where I said clearly that for a Governor to come up with a transition committee to show him what to do in term of projects, simply means that he had no idea of what he was coming to do in government and for me, I appeared to have been vindicated,” Omipidan said.

Omipidan also challenged Adeleke to come out with empirical evidence that he truly went overseas to engage foreign investors, saying that “it is unethical for a person in such of position to lie about his whereabouts when it is crystal clear that his trip overseas was different from what was painted to the public.”

He asked Adeleke to mention the number of foreign investors that had come to Osun to exhibit business partnership with the state in the last one year, saying it is unfortunate that the Governor who claimed to have departed the state just yesterday had been away for the last two weeks.

“For instance, the reason given for the absence of the governor to personally give account of his stewardship on one year in office is that he went on a working vacation to follow up with foreign investors, and the question to ask is that how many investors had come to Osun in the last one year that the governor went to Europe and Asia to follow up?

“I am very much aware as a citizen of Osun that our Governor has been away for the last two weeks. Therefore, the statement they issued was just to cover up because they didn’t know how to explain the reason the Governor was unable to celebrate his phantom one year in office,” he added.

Omipidan decried the state of things in the state, particularly the inability of the Adeleke administration to fulfill and deliver on his electoral promises, noting that “Adeleke’s One year in office is a complete waste as it remains a year of deceit, phantom and fraudulent claims.”

“Don’t forget that Senator Ademola Adeleke won the election on propaganda and lies, and I am sure that in no distant time, Osun people will see through those lies. Go to Osogbo shortly after the Olaiya flyover that was built by the Oyetola’s administration, you will see a lot of big potholes, the truth is not far fetched as many of these are virtually everywhere including Ogo-Oluwa, ringroad among others.

“You can go to the ringroad and see the poor quality of the road they are doing. Ede-Akoda road was awarded without due process. If they claimed to have surpassed the previous administration, the question to ask them is what is the definition of governance? The primary responsibility of any government is to ensure security of lives and property, so, please, go and look at the indices, crime rate had suddenly increased since November 27th, 2022 when the Adeleke administration came to being and as a matter of fact, the crime started right at the venue of the inauguration where Adeleke was being sworn in, where many members of the Amotekun and NSCDC personnel were beaten to stupor and shattered mercilessly by his political thugs.

“About a day or two after, they stormed motor parks, set vehicles ablaze, and continued to attack people. It was within one year of Adeleke’s government that about 30 APC loyalists were killed before, during, and after the last general elections, just for them to attain electoral victory

“So, if you are asking for good governance, they should show us the indices. Secondly, they spoke about the digital economy, please ask them how far they have gone, it is a ruse. Let them come out and show the public in concrete terms what they have done. They have nothing to show to justify the huge money they have received so far.

“Sadly, the kind of money that was available to this government within one year was never available to us. If such was available to us during our time, I bet with you, without sounding immodest, that if Oyetola had access to fund that the current administration had access to, I believe that what we did would have been a child’s play of what we would have done because in spite of the fact that there was no much, we proved to be a good example of how to run a State like Osun in a depressed economy without inflicting additional pains on the citizens of the state.

“Their problem is that they lie a lot, forgetting that any government built on lies and propaganda can never last. The workers you were talking about, just go and interview them, they will tell you what they are facing.

“Osun is the only state in the entire southwest that has not added a Kobo to workers’ salaries even Ekiti that is not as rich as Osun had found ways to ameliorate the hardship being faced by workers and citizens due to the subsidy removal. Osun collected the same amount, but what have they done with it?” Omipidan queried.