The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused the Governor Ademola Adeleke-led administration of being incorrigible and selfish without any consideration for the even development of all the towns making up the state.
In a statement signed by the state APC Director of Media and Information, Mogaji Kola Olabisi, the party alleged that tongues are wagging in hushed tones across the state on the concentration of developmental projects in Ede, the home town of the governor, since he assumed the political leadership of the state which constitutionally qualifies him to be the handler and decider of the collective patrimony of the yam and the knife belonging to the entirety of the state.
The statement read:
“It is however, strange that rather than for the embattled governor to spend the resources of the state evenly, he has opted to lavish the common resources of the state to develop Ede at the detriment of all the other towns in the state.
“While no meaningful developmental project is noticeable in other towns and villages in Osun State under the administration of Governor Adeleke, Ede is like a construction site as all the four entrances leading to the ancient town have either been dualised or undergoing dualisation at a fast rate as workers are working there day and night.”
The APC said Governor Adeleke must have lost count of the number of the inner roads that have been tarred in the community while the same cannot be said about the other towns making up the state.
It argued that Osun State parades the highest number of urban centres among the comity of states in Nigeria, adding that the constitutional rule that democratic governance should visibly address the even development of the towns and villages making up a state has been brazenly breached in the state under the unfortunate administration of Governor Adeleke.
“The bizarre approach of Governor Adeleke to governance is a dangerous precedent which is capable of being a misguiding factor to some future governors in the state who may be bereft of administrative prowess and conscience and who may believe that their top priorities of development are their home towns to the disadvantage of the other communities as is being flagrantly witnessed under Adeleke.
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“One finds it difficult to believe that the so-called members of the state House of Assembly numbering 26 in all could be so carefree and ineffective to the effect that they have been warming their seats for this long in the state hallowed chambers while the state chief executive has been calling their bluffs by rapidly developing his home town to the detriment of the other state constituencies.
“What would be the excuse of the pliable Osun State lawmakers when they are confronted by their constituents to come up with their stewardship under the administration of Governor Adeleke for utterly neglecting their own constituencies while Ede, the governor’s town, has become the most developed community in the state?” The party queried.
“It is only greed and rapaciousness in public office that could be responsible for the uneven development of the state under Governor Adeleke who has been rushing the developmental projects in his town in a manner suggestive that he has the premonition of his imminent defeat in the forthcoming governorship election of the 8th of August, 2026.
“It has also become an informal topic in public places across the state that the Governor Adeleke-led administration has refused to obey the directive of the Federal Government through the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace to halt the relocation of the Osun State International Airport project from Ido-Osun to Ede, following widespread controversies and protests, as work is said to be going on in the new airport construction site day and night which amounts to the governor daring the Federal Government.
“It would be recalled that Governor Adeleke had announced that the foundation-laying ceremony for the new airport would be held on December 16, 2024, in Ede, his hometown and it would feature key dignitaries, including Ministers of Works and Aviation, David Umahi and Festus Keyamo.
“However, in a letter dated December 6, 2024, signed by the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace, Dr. Emmanuel D. Meribole, and addressed to Governor Adeleke, the ministry directed the state government to suspend the project indefinitely.
“The letter stated: “Re: Invitation as a Special Guest of Honour at the Foundation Laying Ceremony of the Osun State International Airport. I wish to refer to your letter Ref. No. 5.12/19/1/Vol.VI/188 dated 21st November 2024 on the above subject and to respectfully request Your Excellency to suspend the foundation laying ceremony of the Osun State International Airport until the issues regarding the petitions over the existing airstrip/airport are resolved and to harmonize the state’s efforts with that of the federal government.
“Your Excellency may wish to note that the airstrip is a federal project that is captured in the Ministry’s 2024 Appropriation. We also note that you have made arrangements to expand the airstrip to an international airport. In addition, there is a petition indicating there is an existing airstrip where funds have been expended and the need to use the site for the present airstrip instead of a new site.
“The federal government is mandated to ensure judicious use of funds to curtail wastage of resources. As this Airstrip Project is a collaboration between state and federal governments, we must be in synch before the project takes off”, the statement read.
“We challenge Governor Adeleke to either confirm or deny the allegation in the court of the public that a whooping sum of N10 billion being the smuggled budgetary allocation for the airport project has been keeping the construction of the new airport going despite the directive of the Federal Government that the project should be suspended. “Has the suspension directive by the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace on the Ede Airport been lifted or the project has been converted to a personal one by the family of the governor? An answer to the query would help to douse the existing tension in the state in this regard.”
