LAUTECH ownership: Oyetola’s administration did not sell LAUTECH to Oyo state — Fmr. Education Commissioner clarifies
By Ismail Azeez, Osogbo
Former Commissioner for Education in Osun State, Folorunso Bamisayemi, has explained that Immediate past Governor Adegboyega Oyetola now the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy did not sell Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) to co-owner (Oyo state government).
Bamisayemi disclosed this in a statement issued on Monday, while reacting to a statement credited to the Chairman of the People Democratic Party (PDP) Osun State over the dissolution of the joint ownership of LAUTECH owned jointly by both Oyo and Osun State.
He cleared the air that Oyetola did not sell LAUTECH for 8 billion naira or for any amount whatsoever, as alleged by Hon Sunday Bisi.
Bamisayemi described PDP chairman’s allegation against Mr Adegboyega Oyetola as an act of gross irresponsibility and an advertisement of his lack of capacity to understand recondite issues of partnership dissolution particularly when the other partner was hell bent on a hostile takeover as a back up plan.
He said that the LAUTECH dissolution was done transparently and was in the public domain as a series of press conferences were held to carry the public along.
He further said that both Osun and Oyo at the end of dissolution shared both the assets and joint liabilities equally on a 50 : 50 basis.
Governor Oyetola deserved to be praised for confronting a difficult situation boldly and taking a courageous decision. Posterity will applaud him and his team glowingly on this all important decision.
According to statement, “Ordinarily, I would not have dignified Mr Sunday Bisi political comment on a radio program with any response but because of the wider unsuspecting members of the public who may not see through the political nature of his misinformation and deliberate falsehood, it’s important to set the record straight.
“The Lautech dissolution issue was done transparently and is there in the public domain as series of press conferences were held to carry the public along but to permanently shut up mischievous people like Mr Sunday Bisi who may want to to distort the narrative for political purposes, I will endeavor to recount what transpired on the Lautech partnership dissolution.
“Permit me to start from my conclusion, which is that former Governor Adegboyega Oyetola DID NOT SELL Lautech for 8 billion naira or for any amount whatsoever, as alleged by Hon Sunday Bisi.
“The dissolution of Lautech joint ownership was initiated by Oyo state and not Osun. To fully understand why Oyo state decided to opt out of the joint ownership, it may be necessary to list historical events that eventually culminated into Oyo’s hardline position on the joint ownership
“Osun got billions of naira in assets located within the perimeter of the college of health sciences and also assets within the perimeter of Lautech teaching hospital, both located in Osogbo, Osun State.
“Apart from billions in buildings and other physical assets, we were also entitled to over 16 billion naira in cash. However, liabilities peculiar to Osun which did not form part of the joint liabilities of both states were deducted from our cash entitlement of a little above 16 billion.
“These peculiar liabilities were the money owed by the Aregbesola’s administration between 2013 and 2016 when the Osun government defaulted in the payment of its half yearly obligations to Lautech as well as other intermittent defaults in payments between 2016 and 2019. It was after the deduction of all liabilities peculiar to Osun State that we were left with a cash of 8 billion naira in addition to billions of naira in the form of buildings and other physical assets.
“For Hon. Sunday Bisi to say Lautech was sold was an act of gross irresponsibility and an advertisement of his lack of capacity to understand recondite issues of partnership dissolution particularly when the other partner was hell bent on a hostile takeover as a back up plan.
“It is noteworthy to say that the Lautech joint ownership had become more or less of an albatross on the neck of the Osun State government as at the time of dissolution. Osun was expected to contribute 50 percent of the funds needed by the university despite being treated as a junior partner with only half a faculty in Osogbo compared with the 11 faculties in Ogbomoso.
“To drive the point home, Osun was home to about 900 medical students out of a total student population of about 35,000 with the remaining 34000 students based in Ogbomoso. You can compare the knock on effects (downstream wise) on the economy of both Ogbomoso and Osogbo and reach a conclusion on who was benefiting more from the partnership.
“Staff ratio moved from the 50:50 that it was in the early nineties to 75:25 as at the time of dissolution. Workers of Osun state extraction were being beaten to stupor, locked out of their offices, threatened with death and were being asked to to return to their state by their Oyo counterparts particularly Ogbomoso indigenes.
“We were simply using our meager resources to develop Ogbomoso in particular and Oyo State in general. Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola took a courageous decision to end the unequal partnership but was overridden by his successor.
“Osun State would have been better off for it if the Oyinlola/Akala dissolution of partnership had not been overridden. Imagine spending all the billions of naira we spent on Lautech from 2010 to 2020 on Osun State University ! It took another courageous Governor in the person of Governor Oyetola to call the bluff of Oyo State and agree to the dissolution,” the statement added.
