By Amos Odhe
Former Minister of Police Affairs, Mr Jelil Adesiyan, was ill-informed on his assessment of Osun’s infrastructure agenda and the administration of palliative support under Governor Ademola Adeleke, the spokesperson to the state governor, Mallam Olawale Rasheed, has declared.
Reacting to the ex-minister’s allegations against Governor Ademola Adeleke and “his lack of understanding of current state policy,” the governor’s aide clarified that the palliative received from the Federal Government “is two billion Naira while the state government has spent more than three billion naira on palliative support in terms of wage award among others.”
Mallam Rasheed said “Mr Adesiyan demonstrated total lack of understanding of the federation account system by alleging three billion naira as palliative. He also failed to clearly grasp the reality of federalism as state allocation from the Federation Account is not a dash from the centre to the states.
“It is also ridiculous to assert that Osun has collected three hundred billion from the Federation Account. Where the Odeomu politician got his false statistics from is questionable. In any case, the fund accruing to the state is being judiciously expended on a well articulated multi-sectoral infrastructural agenda.
“The infra agenda covers health, education, water and roads facilities. It involves dualisation per senatorial district, one overhead bridge per senatorial district and a total sixty kilometers of roads across the local governments in the state. All the projects are evenly distributed as can be fact checked.
“It is elementary that the root of under-development, economic backwardness and poverty is infrastructure deficit. Conscious effort to bridge the infra gap is a catalyst for development. How our leader,Mr Adesiyan, did not know this simple fact is a puzzle.
“As part of the infra upgrade, close to 100 health centres have been rehabilitated and equipped with solar power and water sources. Over 90 kilometers of roads have been completed. Local water supply is on across the 332 wards. All projects complies with extant laws and due process.
“The consensus locally and nationally today is that Governor Adeleke is delivering on good governance. I urge our leader to own up to the reality that Osun has attained an enviable position within just 17 months of Governor Adeleke’s government,” the spokesperson said.
Mallam Rasheed called on opposition leaders to engage the state government based on facts and best practices, adding that “Osun has robust working relationship with the Federal Government as the governor delivers dividends of democracy to the residents of the most peaceful state in Nigeria”
