The Chief Press Secretary to Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, Mr Taiwo Adisa, on Saturday, said that the governor is running the state with ingenuity, while also delivering incisive governance in the state.
He maintained that contrary to insinuations that the governor has been spending Oyo State’s money on politics in other states, Governor Makinde has been spending the state’s resources to benefit the people of the state, which is why a lot of efforts have been going into turning around the infrastructure of the state across, health, education and other sectors.
The Media aide, who spoke on Political Circuit, a programme of the Ibadan-based Fresh 105.9 FM, stated that the Makinde administration’s innovative project funding approach is bringing about an ongoing massive turnaround in the infrastructure deficit of the state, notwithstanding the global setback occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Adisa, the introduction of the Alternative Project Funding Approach (APFA) by the Makinde administration, which allows contractors to raise funds to execute critical infrastructure, while the state pays at a later period, has enabled the state to substantially bridge the worrisome infrastructural deficit it inherited in 2019.
He also revealed that works on the establishment of the Oyo State Anti-Corruption Agency, which bill was passed to the House of Assembly and assented to by the governor, has now reached an advanced stage, adding that the state government had instituted a painstaking process to search for persons of “impeccable integrity” to man key positions in the agency.
He also noted that the State Executive Council has already ratified some of the things the agency will work on.
A statement by the Special Assistant (Print Media) to the governor, Moses Alao, quoted Adisa as also saying that the economic and political sagacity, with which Governor Makinde has been running the state is commendable.
He stated that infrastructure projects, including the ongoing 21 kilometre Ajia-Airport road, remodelling of the Lekan Salami Stadium, Adamasingba, as well as the construction of the four Transport Interchanges, among others, were parts of the innovative plans of the administration to turn things around and expand the economy.
He said: “Immediately the state government, in playing to his own chosen line of openness, announced its intention of going for a N100 Billion bond, the noise came up in huge volume from the opposition party. They were saying that the government wants to plunge the state into debt when they don’t even understand the issue at stake; when they don’t even know the difference between ordinary borrowing and the bond; when they have not even interrogated the agenda that we have put up for raising the issue of the bond and when they have not also looked at the benefits that will accrue to the state. They have not interrogated anything other than to play politics and play to the gallery”.
The governor’s aide further said that part of the projects that will benefit from the N100 Billion, when it is eventually issued, is the Ibadan Airport, stating that the government has already facilitated some improvements including the lighting system, the runway to an extent and some other things put in place by the government.
“Recently, the Airport was not going to be accredited to start operation after COVID-19, but the state government intervened and is still intervening to make sure that the international standard we are talking about is maintained (at the airport). The Federal Government approved Akure, Ilorin Airports after COVID-19 restart but Ibadan Airport was not immediately approved. But because the state government has intervened, the Airport came back within the same week. So, we are focused on what we want to do and won’t be swayed by the noise here and there. And we are going to tell anyone making noise to look at what we are doing and stop shouting,” Adisa added.
Responding to questions on why the government is remodelling the Adamasingba Stadium despite COVID-19 pandemic, which has limited attendance at stadiums, Adisa said that the Makinde administration is already looking beyond the pandemic and planning for the future.
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