By Ismail Azeez, Osogbo

The All Progressives Congress (APC), Osun State chapter, has described the state Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led administration of Governor Ademola Adeleke as the worst in the history of the state.

The party said there is nothing tangible to showcase the seriousness of the man at the helm of affairs in the state in the last one year of its inauguration.

According to the remark of the Osun State Chairman of the APC, Sooko Tajudeen Lawal, in a statement issued by the party’s Director of Media and Information, Chief Kola Olabisi, on Monday.

Lawal said the state has never had it so bad as the Adeleke administration has been basically falsehood-driven packaged to deceive the unsuspecting members of the public about the achievements of the government.

He stated that right from day one in the life of his administration, Adeleke has shown that he was out on vindictive mission against the opposition APC as he needlessly reversed some of the policies of his predecessor, former Governor Gboyega Oyetola who is now the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy.

He said, “Below are some of the infractions committed by Governor Adeleke within the past one year of his administration:

“In the health sector, 200 workers were sacked on his assumption of office; he recruited health workers without the needed advertisement; the recruited workers were sacked again by him, thereby wasting the meagre resources of the state.

“It is on record that Adeleke plundered and bastardized the education sector by: Increasing WAEC fee from N18, 000 to N37, 000 per student; Sacking the Rector of Osun State Polytechnic, Iree without due process and replacing him with his unqualified kinsman, Kehinde Alabi.

“Interrupting the academic activities at the Osun State Polytechnic, Iree on account of his unwholesome policy;  Reducing subventions due to tertiary institutions like Osun State College of Technology, Esa-Oke; Osun State University, etc. Increasing the school fees of UNIOSUN students beyond the affordability of their parents.

“Sacking the management of Ilesa University without due process; Sacking primary and secondary school teachers unduly.

“In the area of the Local Government Administration, Adeleke’s performance was abysmally low as it cannot be forgotten how he sacked 28 traditional rulers without due process and the elected local government chairmen illegally and replaced them with appointed caretaker members.

“In the area of Budget and Finance, under Governor Adeleke, extra-budgetary spending since November last year without the approval of State Assembly has been the practice of his government; appropriation of state resources without budget approval from the state house of assembly; immoral allocation of N10billion to his office in the Supplementary Budget to take care of his comfort and expensive lifestyle; reduction of the budgetary allocations of key MDAs (Education, health, UNIOSUN, Youths and Sports, Rural Development, Water Corporation, etc) in order to accommodate budget for the Office of the Governor and running of the administration without cabinet meeting.

“Adeleke has also failed to honour his campaign promises of clearing of backlog of salaries of the government workers within 100 days in office; lacking of accountability in management of state resources; awarding revenue collection contract to friends and cronies; inability to block leakages; failure to account for over N130 billion revenue accrued to the state in the last 12 months; mismanagement of N9 billion Federal Government Palliative Fund.

“Other financial infractions committed by the Adeleke administration are: Failure to account for the N2 billion Federal Government palliative grant and N7 billion Osun share of the savings from fuel subsidy removal and inability to provide the needed palliative measure for Osun citizens as against what obtains in other states. Besides 6,000 bags of rice provided by the Federal Government, Osun didn’t provide additional bags of rice.

“It is on record that Governor Adeleke witch-hunted the opposition with state policy as none of the committees ( Mining and Solid Mineral Committee, Asset Recovery committee, Obaship and Appointment review committees) set up through his Executive Orders through which he sacked 28 monarchs twelve months ago has not seen the light of day.

“Adeleke with impunity engaged in constitutional rascality by illegally dissolving statutory boards (OSSIEC, Judicial Service Commission, etc) without due process; appointed his Special Adviser as Chairman of Osun Independent Electoral Commission and also suspended the state Chief Judge, Justice Adepele Ojo, illegally.

“Adeleke’s Civil Servant Screening resulted in the death of a husband and wife retiree in Iwo; he squandered N8 Billion on feeding in the Office of the Governor in three months while the state House of Assembly under the leadership of the RT. Hon Wale Egbedun, spent N826 million on running cost in three months.

“Adeleke dismissed over 1,500 teachers and 20,000 O’YES Cadets within the last one year of his infamous administration.

“Above are some of the litany of the infractions among others committed by the administration of Governor Adeleke within the last one year which are not in the best interest of the people of the state.

“It is no longer news that Adeleke has been running his government by proxy as his siblings who did not stand for an election are occupying a prominent stage in his administration.

“Governor Adeleke has also been living in a three-bedroom boys’ quarters of his sister’s apartment in Ede since his inauguration, abandoning the Government House and occasionally going to the Governor’s Office, Abere, since his inauguration 12 calendar months ago,” the statement added.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State has accused Governor Ademola Adeleke of lying about his whereabouts, a strategy to avoid giving the report of one-year stewardship.

It was gathered that Adeleke, in a statement by his spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, announced that he had commenced a working vacation to Europe and Asia to finalise partnership deals with investors and development partners.

However, the Osun APC, in a statement signed by the Chairman, Tajudeen Lawal, on Sunday, berated Rasheed for announcing that Governor Adeleke had embarked on a short working visit to Europe and Asia.

Lawal claimed the governor had been holidaying in the United States of America in the last two weeks, shortly after the debilitating defeat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kogi State.

He said that Adeleke had run the state with sheer incompetence, mismanaged over N130 billion revenue accrued to his government and failed to provide palliative for the Osun people amidst the economic hardship, hence ashamed of facing them.

The Osun APC further claimed that Adeleke would be laying a dangerous precedent with his absence from the first anniversary of his administration on Monday, as it would be the first time that such would happen in the history of the creation of the state.

The statement reads, “Of course, this is a mere prelude to a foundation-laying for excuses that Governor Adeleke would not be physically present in the state for the celebration of his one-year administration coming up tomorrow.

“It was reliably gathered that a recorded statement from the governor would be played for the people of the state in lieu of his physical presence tomorrow.

“No one can begrudge another for falling sick or nursing an ailment as such is beyond the control of any human being but God Almighty, however, it beholds on those who are holding the people’s mandate in trust to always tell the truth and stand by the truth.

“We know very well that Governor Adeleke has absconded from the state so he would not be able to give due account of his stewardship to the people of the state.

“Since November 2022, when he came on board, Governor Adeleke has run the state aground with his sheer incompetence, lack of proper education and his zero administrative acumen.

“He is afraid to disclose to Osun people how he has mismanaged over N130 billion in revenue accrued to his government in the last one year.

“He is afraid to tell them how he has allocated in the supplementary budget over N10 billion for his food, entertainment and office use while parents of UNIOSUN students are struggling to pay increased school fees his regime forced on them to pay.

“Governor Adeleke is ashamed to face the Osun people that one year after, his promise of making Osun another Dubai is a fluke.

“Adeleke is distraught to face Osun people because he has failed to provide palliative for them in the face of economic hardship occasioned by the removal of fuel subsidy and the N9billion he collected from the Federal Government, his demonic government has looted it.

“Adeleke is afraid to face the anger of Osun people that while a serious state like Ogun is investing in Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses, which is capable of making the cost of transportation cheaper, Adeleke in a ploy to line his pocket, is putting Osun money in unsustainable diesel-propelled vehicles purchased over 10 years ago.”

Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, the   National Chairman of the  All Progressives Congress  (APC) has promised to resuscitate the party’s Rivers chapter.

Ganduje said this on Friday in Abuja when he inaugurated a seven-member Caretaker Committee for the chapter following Wednesday’s dissolution of the executives by the national body.

He said that the party was confident in their ability to deliver on their mandates.

Ganduje said that the party had suffered setbacks in the state starting from 2015, adding that while some members left for some reasons, many others were willing to join the fold.

“We like you to make history by building a strong foundation, you are part and parcel of the government of today, because you contributed to its emergence,” Ganduje said.

Earlier, Mr Tony Okocha, the chairman of the committee, said there was need to regig the party in the state.

He said it was unfortunate that the APC that started as a strong party in the state had turned comatose.

He assured that members of the committee would do their best to change the narrative by repositioning the party, adding that the days of factions within the party were over.

He added that in unity, the committee would ensure the rebirth of a new APC in Rivers.

He said the committee would engage aggrieved members of the party and ensure they return to its fold while wooing members of opposition political parties to join it.

“Our task may be daunting, but with your support and the support of the party’s members, we will surmount it.We will re-engineer the APC in Rivers.

“We are game for the assignment and the charges handed to us, it is painful that as a political party, we have lagged behind in Rivers.

“We will engage and re-engage our people and take away the one man show in APC Rivers, we will make it a collective show rather than a one man show.

“What had happened in the past will remain in the past, we are a new party in Rivers,” Okocha said.

He added, “Chief Nyesom Wike is an illustrious son of Rivers, but not a member of APC, he is a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), but if tomorrow he wants to join the APC, we cannot stop anybody.

“We will bring everybody on board and take everybody’s interest into consideration going forward,we are starting a fresh party and our doors are open to all Rivers people.

“Once we have the proper party membership, no election will be a challenge to us in Rivers.”

Other members of the committee included Chief Eric Nwibani, who was the Secretary.

Others were Mr Chibuike Ikenga, Mr Stephen Abolo, Silvester Vidin, Senibo Karibi Dan-Jumbo and Miss Darling Amadi.